Maverick Russian internet security entrepreneur Eugene Kaspersky gave the closing keynote presentation at technology expo CeBIT in Sydney yesterday. His presentation included a litany of recent audacious financial system hacks and bank heists, many often attributed to "Russian speaking" gangs.In one case, Kaspersky pointed to a blend of traditional and online skills in a bank robbery: the gang first hacked a bank building's infrastructure operating system and turned off the security cameras; the rest of the gang then entered the bank and engaged in the more traditional method of armed hold-up.Top of his list, though, when it came to professional hacks remains the so-called Carbanak gang - and their efforts in running what could be a US$1 billion heist (targeting around 100 banks to steal up to $10 million from each).The gang is "professional enough" to hack a very well protected bank network. They start by using social media to infect the computers used by frontline bank clerks and from there are able to harvest intelligence, slowly building up a picture of who is who in the bank, passwords systems and very slowly "integrating malware into the bank." Then, once inside the system, the thieves are able find ways to "cash out": to pay salaries to fake companies and fake employees; create "magic credit cards" with no daily limits and which always come back to the same balance; use the SWIFT network to transfer funds; or cause ATMs to spit out cash with a mule ready to collect.Kaspersky has previously made the assertion that the Carbanak plot "marks the beginning of a new stage in the evolution of cybercriminal activity, where malicious users steal money directly from banks, and avoid targeting end users".In the press conference that followed he pointed out that "we are living in a different world. Once it was individuals and businesses that were targeted, and then the rise of the state sponsored attacks, which were invisible ten years ago. "Now we are moving from the earlier attacks to the next generation. The motivation for these people is still the same - assets and infrastructure - but the victims are becoming more and more high-level."