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NPR News:

Tom Kellermann, a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, a professional services firm, says the latest round of attacks indicate that even companies that invest heavily in sophisticated security systems are seeing new vulnerabilities from new sources — namely, rogue hackers who are buying readily available software tools on the black market.

"There's a massive consulting- and software-based industry that supports the shadow economy that makes it far easier for people who are not sophisticated to leverage these types of attacks," Kellermann says.

Kellermann says organized crime syndicates — especially in Eastern Europe — not only make money selling the malware but also use the hackers' channels to their own ends. They prod at a company's network, often hanging out for months undetected, and then plan their attack.

Security Experts Say Data Thieves Are Getting Harder To Fight