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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/datalockdown/0,3800014480,39183834,00.htm

Cyber crime: Police not taking it seriously
Poll: More resources needed, say silicon.com readers

By Andy McCue

Published: Monday 07 April 2008

Cyber crimes such as hacking, denial of service attacks and online fraud are not taken seriously enough by the police.

In a poll of more than 100 silicon.com readers, 83 per cent said police should place a higher priority on e-crime than they do now, compared to other crimes.

Just six per cent said cyber crime should be a lower priority for police and 11 per cent of silicon.com readers said the police have the balance "about right".

silicon.com's e-Crime Crackdown campaign is calling for a national UK cyber crime police unit.

The unit would provide leadership and expertise to co-ordinate investigations nationwide and collate reports from police forces across the country, as well as offering a central point of contact for reporting e-crime.

We want to hear your views about this campaign and your experiences of being a victim of cyber crime. Were you happy with the way your case was handled? Make your voice heard by leaving a Reader Comment below or emailing us in confidence at editorial@silicon.com.

silicon.com is currently running its e-Crime Crackdown campaign for a dedicated high-tech national police crime unit to deal with the growing threat of computer crime and last week the Conservative party launched a stinging attack on the government's failure to pay £1.3m to fund a national e-crime policing unit.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said a crime is committed online in the UK "every ten seconds" - costing UK businesses £10bn a year.

Businesses are also complaining that local police forces do not have the resources or expertise to deal with growing cyber crime and online fraud threats they now face.