Organized groups of cyberthieves are now recruiting new employees, using the internet to place ads for interested criminals.

A SecureWorks analyst said there are several companies hiring online, with promised payments of $180 per 1,000 malware downloads on U.S. and European PCs.

Payment isn't made to clients who infect Russian-based PCs, which means the cybercriminals are likely located in Russia, or somewhere else in Eastern Europe.  Employees can be paid via WebMoney, PayPal, wired transaction, e-gold, Western Union, ePassporte, and MoneyGram.

The actual number of PCs infected by these types companies is extremely difficult to gauge without inside knowledge of how these groups operate.

The FBI believes cybercrime is a multi-million dollar business that continues to attract even more criminals.  The lure of fast, easy money -- with lesser chance of getting caught overseas -- criminals reportedly racked up $264 million in theft in 2008, with the final tally in 2009 expected to be higher.

"There are hundreds of billions of dollars that traverse the internet," said Shawn Henry, FBI Cyber Division assistant director, in a statement to Reuters last year.  "It's (the problem) absolutely gotten bigger, yes, absolutely."

Security analysts believe cybercrime will continue to evolve into an even more serious threat, especially with organized crime groups in China, Russia and Eastern Europe continuing to grow.  A report from Symantec in November 2008 noted how cohesive and sophisticated hackers and online crooks have become -- and that trend has accelerated further since then.