The stereotype of the malware and spyware author is the lone disgruntled hacker who has squandered their talent on rage and hate.  Sounds like the perfect villian for a melodrama.  It turns out that the truth is much worse.  The driving force behind most of this software is actually organized crime.  An article on ZDnet yesterday details how this all works in a nice little overview.  This seems to be just another wave in the process of hacking and anti-hacking becoming battles not between individuals alone in the dark, but between industries and governments vs. syndicates.