Warning over cyber criminal influx

Security experts have warned that the UK may soon see a rise in criminal cyber activity after the jailing of Tony Colston-Hayter, who stole more than £1.25m from  banks.

Colston-Hayter will be serving between five and six years in jail after the verdict at Southwark Crown Court. His gang used a KVM (keyboard, video and mouse) to hack Santander and Barclays branches.

The gang further stole card information from intercepted communications and purchased luxury goods, such as designer jewellery and Rolex watches worth more than £1m.

Two members of the gang tried to hack Santander in an attempt to take what was termed by the police as “substantial funds”. However, they were caught on the spot.

Experts in cyber crime are now warning businesses in the UK to be cautious of further gangs, with a similar level of know-how, using the latest technology combined with old-school subterfuge.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Senior Crime Adviser, Charlie McMurdie, said:

“These are new-age bank robbers, a really significant team with all their role and remits in place, well-structured, well-organised, and using all the various techniques they exploited the banking system.

“We’re seeing more and more of these old-fashioned mainstream criminals using and exploiting technology, and really being quite professionalised about how they’re going about it.”

With cyber criminals gaining traction in both intelligence and technology, larger companies especially will need to be ready. The best way to prepare is to hire staff of equal intelligence with a strong knowledge of the technology used in cyber crime. We may see a number of such companies ramp up their IT security recruitment in the imminent future.