When computer security experts recently discovered the hugely sophisticated and obviously state-sponsored cyber-spy worms Stuxnet and Flame, many wondered out loud whether organized criminals might soon get their hands on similar malware tools that can siphon almost any sensitive information from even the best-guarded system.

 

The answer may have been staring at them from their computer screens all along.

On Monday, the Russian Internet security firm Kaspersky Labs announced that it has hunted down a previously unknown, advanced cyber-espionage network that it calls "Red October," (after Tom Clancy's novel) which has probably been vacuuming top secret data from diplomatic, scientific, and corporate computers around the world since 2007.