It was widely reported towards the end of 2013 that Scotland Yard are to significantly expand their E-Crime Unit to help tackle the ever-increasing problems of internet fraud and cyber-attacks by dedicated cyber-criminals.
It has long been a theme of policing that money, and there is of course less of it to go around, has steadily been diverted away from established areas of law enforcement such as burglary, drug dealing and anti-social behaviour and towards computer based criminal conduct.
With computer crime an ever-rising threat, the specialist E-Crime Unit will be faced with increasing challenges during this year and beyond to tackle criminals targeting computer systems in the UK. Attacks from terrorists and sophisticated malware designers to low-level fraudsters are all being targeted in this ever-developing area of police work.
So how successful have the E-Crime Unit been? Certainly, in 2013, a number of successful prosecutions were brought with the aid of specialist prosecutors, and there are many more cases in the pipeline. That said, the fast pace and development of cybercrime has resulted very much in the police playing catch up. Privately, they concede that although they have made major progress in combatting crime of this nature in recent times, but there is still much work to be done.
The level of sophistication used by cyber-criminals is a concern for police and law enforcement agencies around the world. At Lewis Nedas Law, we have been at the forefront of defending individuals charged with interception of communications, and the spreading of malware through personal computer systems as well as banking and other institutions.
Of course, those involved in computer crime are aware that the courts are coming down ever more heavily in terms of sentences and, certainly, those sentences are reflective of the current mood amongst the judiciary of those involved in criminal activity of this nature.
For all users many dangers are abound in 2014, certainly malware, will evolve and, as members of the public and institutions alike become ever more dependent on portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, the malware market will be designed to attack such devices.
Ransomware is also often used by criminals, with outlandish scare tactics aimed at deceiving individuals into parting with money for fear of being exposed on the internet if they do not.
What is certain, as the police become mobilised to combat computer crime and more resources are dedicated to the E-Crime unit, at the same time those responsible for such activity are already developing methods and systems to evade detection.
Lewis Nedas Lawyers for Cybercrime
If you are affected by cybercrime, or are accused of any offences relating to the internet, computers or portable devices, then we at Lewis Nedas Law are specialist lawyers in handling such matters for you. Please contact us either by telephone on 020 7387 2032 or by completing our online enquiry form here.
Miles Herman is currently instructed in a high publicity internet fraud case involving the theft of over £1 million. He has also successfully represented a number of individuals facing cybercrime offences and the unauthorised interception of communication cases.
