The rise of the white collar hacker
IT pros - not spotty teenagers - are the most usual suspects in cybercrime investigations, a senior Metropolitan Police officer told a London security conference this morning. Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur - who heads Scotland Yard’s specialist crime directorate - told delegates to this week's Computer and Internet Crime Conference that the profile of hackers in changing with a new breed of white collar criminal coming to the fore. "We're seeing more mature offenders, often with a background in the IT industry carrying out malicious attacks and infiltration. Attacks, especially in the banking sector, have been motivated by organised crime groups," said Ghaffur. However, companies often dismiss individuals they hold responsible for fraud or misuse or their computer systems, rather then report them to the police. This approach is short-sighted, according to Ghaffur, who referred to investigations where his officers have arrested suspects who've been sacked seven or eight times before facing prosecution for fraud. Scotland Yard wants to make it easier for firms to report computer crimes and share information on losses - anonymously, if necessary. According to Ghaffur, traditional offences are increasingly conducted in cyberspace. He singled out the trade of paedophile pictures online, cyber blackmail and ID theft as priorities in Scotland Yard’s fight against cybercrime. Of these, ID theft crimes (which are associated with huge financial loses) are the highest priority. Cybercrime should be higher up the political agenda, according to Ghaffur, who said the area currently receives "insufficient funding and resources". He called for cybercrime to be reported as a separate category in crime statistics so that its true scope would become more apparent. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), an FBI-style police force due to begin operation in the UK in 2006, will take the lead in the fight against Britain’s organised criminals. The force will combine the roles of the National Crime Squad, National Intelligence Service, Immigration and Customs and Excise. It will target drug trafficking, people smuggling and fraud cases. The agency will co-ordinate intelligence and resources at a national and will take a "problem-centric" approach to the fight against crime, according to Ghaffhur. Cybercrime – because of its international dimension – should be one of SOCA’s priorities, he said. SOCA should not operate in isolation from other law enforcement agencies, such as Scotland Yard’s Computer Crime Unit (CCU), Ghaffur said. He praised the work of officers in the Met’s Computer Crime Unitg and cited a joint intelligence cell comprisng the Metropolitan Police, the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Mounties) as a model for collaboration among law enforcement agencies.
Reproduced from an article published by The Register
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