Honestly who needs the bother? (Photo: screencap)

Seems the uptick in cyber crime has some benefit, at least: The Wall Street Journal reports that as criminals discover the beauty of electronic exploits like credit card theft, there's far less incentive to stroll into a bank, fire off a couple of rounds into the ceiling and demand all the cash you can carry.

Our condolences to anyone who saw Public Enemies and decided  to make his name as a modern-day John Dillinger. We'll always have Ocean's Eleven.

The Journal says that bank robberies have dropped precipitously in the last ten years, by almost 50 percent. That's partly because robbing a bank is harder than ever (gone are the days of tommy guns and bravado) and the penalties are stiffer.

But it's also because, increasingly, the money isn't there any more:

"Clearly, as more and more transactions become electronic, more bank crimes become electronic," said Doug Johnson, vice president of risk management at the American Bankers Association.

Sure, "I deploy phishing scams to empty virtual bank accounts because that's where the money is" doesn't have the same romantic ring to it--but who needs romance when you've got loot?