United States of America, the largest economy in the world also has the maximum concentration of cyber criminals.
 The Internet Security Threat Report released by Symantec Corporation here on Thursday revealed that criminals and criminal organisations all over the world used underground economy servers to sell stolen information, including government-issued identity numbers, PINs, user accounts and e-mail address lists. Theft or loss of a computer or data storage medium, such as a USB memory key, comprised nearly 54 per cent of all data breached.  
   The report says in the last 6 months of 2006, 51 per cent of all known underground economy servers in the world were located in the US.
The US-based credit cards with a card verification number were available in the range of $1 to $6 while an identity, including a US bank account, credit card, date of birth and government issued identification number, was available in-between $14 to $18. The US had the highest proportion of overall malicious activity, about 31 per cent; China was second-10 per cent; and Germany was third, with 7 per cent.
The report revealed that the current Internet threat environment is characterised by an increase in data theft, data leakage, and the creation of targeted, malicious code for stealing confidential information. It also reveals a shift towards collaborative, global online communities operated by cyber criminals.