Cyber criminals convicted for bank fraud

A group of cyber criminals who stole over £1.25m from Barclays with a KVM (keyboard, video and mouse) device have received a conviction at the crown court in  Southwark.

The gang became known last year after launching a number of attacks on Santander and Barclays branches with a KVM device in which they attempted to remotely access bank accounts. Details of how and when the attacks occurred have come to light, which includes the moment when the gang members were caught by the police red-handed.

The criminals were found attempting to steal funds from Santander. One of the gang members made his way into the bank’s branch in Surrey Quays, and managed to fit a KVM switch. Two other members attempted to get into the banking system in order to transfer an amount that the police believe will have been fairly substantial.

Speaking to SCMagazineUK.com, Mark Stollery, PA Consulting’s information security specialist, explained:

“It’s a very important reminder that cyber security is not just about equipment – because crucial to this case was somebody conning their way in to have physical access to very important systems holding large amounts of critical data.

“There was an element of social engineering which is not something that many organisations automatically think of when they think about cyber security.”

As demonstrated here, cyber security is also about having the right staff in place. Those seeking IT risk jobs and other such positions will need to be able to respond when asked how they intend on combatting such threats and improving security awareness internally.