NCA arrests over 50 suspected cyber criminals

The National Crime Agency has arrested dozens of people suspected of committing cyber crime, in an operation that has brought on board local crime squads and the Met Police.

The 57 suspects have been  accused of such crimes as malware writing, fraud and data theft. Other compromised hacking groups have reportedly been involved in DDos attacks and phishing scams.

The National Crime Unit from the National Crime Agency co-ordinated the entire operation, but included the Metropolitan Police along with specialist officers representaing the Regional Organised Crime Units.

In the same week, four forces formed pop-up shows in which the public was given advice regarding online safety, and how to safeguard their computers and mobile devices against malware.

Rory Cellan-Jones, a technology correspondent from the BBC, commented:

“Teams arrived with equipment to gather data, and found a laptop and a desktop computer, both of them online. One officer was employed simply keeping her finger on the laptop’s trackpad to make sure it didn’t go to sleep.

“Later, police cyber-specialists would spend many hours examining exactly what was on the two computers.”

Cyber crime can have a widespread effect on a company, not only compromising customer data but destroying a company’s reputation beyond repair. The NCA cannot arrest every hacker out there so there will always be an element of danger, which in turn means that UK firms should constantly assess their IT security recruitment campaigns. Cyber professionals are invaluable in this day and age, and yet they remain undervalued in some sectors. If firms are serious about keeping their data secure, that will change in the near future.