Industry news

E-crime unit 'needs to make arrests'

The IT industry says the new e-crime unit – promised by the government – must result in visible arrests, it has been reported.

Industry figures backed up by parliament insist the unit must result in the apprehension of cyber-criminals and not just focus on fraud, according to Computerworld UK.

The former chief information and security director at ICI, Paul Simmonds, told the publication that though he supported the scheme so far, he hopes the Met's recommendations to be tough enough on crime would be taken into consideration.

"If it's just reporting and nothing happens, people will become fed up. The results need to be in the form of visible prosecutions," he added.

There is still some uncertainty as to where the £1.3 million funding the unit needs will come from or what the structure of it will be.

Meanwhile last week it was reported by Silicon.com that the European Union's online security body was calling for new laws to force firms to reveal when their computer systems have been breached.