Industry news

AGO wants fraud-busters by 2009

The Attorney General wants a national fraud-fighting centre to be operational by next summer, it has been reported.

A National Fraud Reporting Centre to collect reports of cyber and traditional fraud across England and Wales is the Attorney General's Office's (AGO) aim, according to Silicon.

It is in talks with the Information Commissioner's Office and other bodies about the national proposals for the unit to identify patterns of fraudulent activity and link the cases.

The centre would set priorities for the policing of the crime and focus major investigations so they do not get lost due to red-tape between different agencies.

An AGO spokesman told the technology news provider: "A proof-of-concept model is being developed and will be tested from the summer, for six months, with aim to identify what information is not being compared currently and join up information that may be held currently by one party for specific internal purposes."

Meanwhile, an industry association of ethical hackers was set up last week to reassure organisations buying IT security systems.

The Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers will provide sufficient testing for new products, reported ZD Net.