They're the Internet equivalent of storm chasers, spending endless hours scanning and sleuthing, looking for the telltale signs of botnets. Here's an inside look at the battle against cybercrime's weapons of mass infection.

A self-proclaimed geek from the age of 14, Andre DiMino had always been interested in computers and networking. But it wasn't until he entered his professional life many years later that he became interested in the security side of that world.

"I was a system administrator for a fairly large network that experienced a significant hacking incident one weekend," said DiMino. "I became consumed with learning about the methods of attack, who might be involved, and where it came from. Right then, I became passionate about all aspects of security, as well as the various groups that carried out the attacks."

And today, in his forties, it is DiMino's interest in the dark side of security that consumes much of his free time. By day, DiMino is a professional digital forensic analyst. By night, he serves as director of an organization known as Shadowserver Foundation, a group of volunteers dedicated to sleuthing out cybercriminals and shutting them down.

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