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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39167883,00.htm

UK needs cyber-crime reporting body
Who you gonna call?

By Gemma Simpson

Published: Thursday 19 July 2007

The UK needs a reporting body to deal with e-crime occurrences, according to a group of senior IT chiefs.

Companies which have fallen foul of e-crime attacks must report any incidents to the local police, who may not always understand what - for example - a DDoS or phishing attack is.

David Roberts, chief executive of Tif, the Corporate IT Forum, told silicon.com there is a need for an organisation that businesses can talk to: "At the moment, there isn't anywhere a large or small corporate can go to find somebody who can understand the [e-crime] issue and has the authority to do something about it."

Roberts said there is not even a body that can bring together organisations that are under threat or experiencing regular threats and coordinate efforts to identify and resolve e-crime incidents.

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Without an e-crime body matters will just get worse, according to Roberts, who said: "The large corporates will just have to continue to put in ever stronger defences and be subjected to more frequent electronic attacks."

The UK did previously have such an e-crime body, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHCTU). But last year the NHCTU was rolled into the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

Roberts added the UK needs the return of the NHTCU, or a similar organisation that understands e-crime, has an international remit and has the authority to do something about electronic crimes.

SOCA said the NHTCU has become the core of the e-crime unit of SOCA, with an expanded remit and greater resources. A SOCA spokesman told silicon.com: "The reporting structure has not changed. In exactly the same way as happened under the NHTCU, a business that has fallen victim to an e-crime should report the matter to the police."

The SOCA spokesman added: "SOCA e-crime has taken the private sector relations built by the NHTCU and developed them into a core part of its strategy. We liaise closely with business communities on a sector by sector basis, and will be seeking to increase both the extent and depth of this relationship, as well as joining up the work of key contacts from the world of law enforcement, both nationally and internationally."