hamba

Cyber-criminals preparing to target London 2012 Olympics, police warn

• Met already investigating possible front companies
• Transport, sponsorship deals and ticketing could be targets


International criminal networks are preparing to target the London 2012 Olympics, a senior Scotland Yard officer warned today.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams said police were investigating a series of front companies that could be used in complex frauds carried out on the internet.

Williams said the multibillion-pound sporting event was proving a tempting target for criminals. "There is a lot of work to be done with e-crime and the Olympics. First of all we need to get the money sorted and there is an imperative about that now," she said.

"We know from Canada and Beijing that the threats are real and they have grown in the last six months."

Speaking in Manchester at the Association of Chief Police Officers annual conference, Williams said criminals might be preparing sophisticated electronic attacks on transport infrastructures, sponsorship deals and ticketing.

She added: "These are all potentially subject to abuses and we need to understand these and put plans in place very quickly now.

"That is a projected area of work and it is where e-crime meets the more significant threats and terrorism threats."

Williams said the Metropolitan police had established a specialist team to examine the threat of electronic and internet attacks on the 2012 Olympic games. Investigators needed "to move from business as usual to an extra amount of effort" as the start of the games neared, she said.

"We will need some extra money to do this, which we hope that the Home Office will give to e-crime.

"We are starting to see some precursor activity, we are starting to see companies being set up in what we believe are false names in anticipation of fraud and other types of criminal activity during the run-up to the Olympics."

She warned that cyber-criminals were determined, sophisticated and flourishing as police continued to grapple with the difficulties of tackling internet crime.

In recent months hospitals, police forces and major private companies, including well-known online shops, have been targeted.

"Very recently we have had three London hospitals badly affected – that was identified as computer viruses overloading the systems," said Williams.

"We have had police forces who have lost considerable parts of their capability for considerable periods of time and we have had attacks that have stopped other public services."

The conference heard that 3m online crimes take place in Britain every year, about one every 10 seconds.





Sandra Laville, Crime correspondent
Wednesday 8 July 2009 14.27 BST
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009

__________________
Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue; a state of mind; a disposition for benevolence; confidence; and justice.

Spinoza.