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Brit Cops Tackle E-Thievery</A>
-----
Brit Cops Tackle E-Thievery
By Michelle Delio
2:55 p.m. Apr. 19, 2001 PDT Great Britain is the No. 1 target in the
western world for computer criminals, but too many British businesses are in
denial about the existence of computer crime, said Bill Hughes, the Director
General of Britain's National Crime Squad.
On Wednesday, Hughes announced the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, a new British
police squad formed to battle cybercrime. The division, which is comprised of
techies and police officers, will be the country's main defense against
cybercrime.
Hughes said that computer crackers have penetrated at least four banks in
Britain and have stolen billions of pounds over the past year, but the banks
have not reported the crimes.
Security experts agree that Britain does have a serious cybercrime problem,
which some say is being compounded by British businesses that deny or attempt
to cover up successful crack attacks.
British companies experienced the second highest amount of e-commerce
security breaches worldwide during 2000, with 14 percent of all companies
reporting serious security breaches, according to a recent survey on global
hacking incidents conducted by KPMG Forensic Accounting.
Those figures put the country in second place for the most crackable country
in the western world. India tops the list, with 23 percent of its companies
suffering from crack attacks.
But Britain's numbers could actually be higher, said Alex Plavsic, head of
Fraud Investigation at KPMG Forensic Accounting.
"Many companies are reluctant to report security breaches for fear of
damaging their reputation, preferring instead to deal with the discovery of
fraud as an internal matter, away from public scrutiny," Plavsic said.
"This �sweeping under the carpet� response favored by companies anxious to
avoid embarrassment can lead to the perception that security systems have not
been vulnerable to attack and manipulation. E-fraud and security-related
risks affect all businesses," Plavsic said.
The new unit will work with local police and advise the government on policy
and legislation.
Hughes also hopes the existence of the task force will encourage more
businesses to come out of the cybercrime closet and report crack attacks.
"When businesses say they are not being hacked they are not telling the
truth," said Hughes, who was speaking at London's Science Museum.
"Everyone has been attacked," Hughes said. "It is how businesses deal with it
that is the question. As soon as businesses understand that being attacked is
not a shameful thing, and that we can help them, then they will admit they
have been attacked."
Hughes claimed that the online divisions of four British banks were cracked.
He did not specify which banks were compromised, but said that local police
have verified that successful attacks were carried out and have tracked the
criminals.
Hughes explained that the technology crime unit will focus on both 'new
crimes done with new tools,' such as computer cracking and software pirating,
and 'old crimes done with new tools,' such as scams, stalking, and hate
crimes which are committed by criminals using technology.
The unit currently has 40 officers who Hughes said will be based in a
"semi-covert" central London location. The numbers are expected to double as
the unit becomes fully operational within three years.
Also at the launch event yesterday, Britain's Home Secretary Jack Straw said
that the government intends to spend 25 million pounds (U.S. $36 million)
over the next three years to battle cybercrime.
"Technology has changed the way criminals operate," Straw said. "Criminals
look for the highest return with the least risk. So it's simple -- money is
going electronic; and where the money goes, so will organized crime."
The crime unit's head, Detective Chief Superintendent Len Hynds, said that
the unit marks a "milestone" in police work. He was also careful to emphasize
that the officers would not be randomly monitoring the Net or reading
people's e-mail.
"There is no intention for us to randomly intercept and read people's
e-mails. We lack the inclination, the capability or the legal power to do
so," Hynds said.
But British civil liberties groups are still concerned that the furor to
combat cybercrime will lead to an erosion of citizens' rights and privacy.
"There is a definite concern that the government will use the Hi-Tech crime
unit as a wedge into all citizens personal lives. After all, what government
doesn't want to fully control its citizens?" said Piers Hill, a network
security specialist and head of civil rights group Free UK.
The organization was formed in response to recent British initiatives such as
last year's RIP (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) Act, which gives law
enforcement agencies access to suspected criminals' e-mail and other
electronic communications.
The British government has set up an "Investigatory Powers Tribunal," which
is intended to be a court of appeal for British citizens who feel that the
government has acted unlawfully.
But, in a report submitted to Parliament this week, members of the UK Commons
Intelligence and Security Committee said the Tribunal was understaffed and
underfunded, and would not be able to "even to open the mail, let alone
process and investigate complaints."
London lawyer Ian Murray, who specializes in Internet issues, feels that the
unit would probably not impact on people's privacy, but he also thinks it
will have little, if any, effect on serious cybercrime.
"The Internet is international, obviously, and so it is equally obvious that
one country's actions will have no impact on the worldwide issue of computer
crime," Murray said.
Murray was "fascinated to discover" that the Hi-Tech crime unit is based on
the FBI's Internet crime division, the National Infrastructure Protection
Center.
"The FBI unit seems to be under rather constant criticism from security
experts, none of whom seem to think that it has been very effective," Murray
said. "I really don't know why we want to copy what appears to be a failed
American effort."
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