Police video showed 22-year-old Aldbourne man arrested for alleged cyber crimes

 

An Aldbourne man has been arrested in a massive police operation against cyber criminals.

Fifty seven people were arrested in 25 separate operations carried out over the past week by officers from the National Crime Agency.

The 22-year-old was arrested in a dawn raid on Tuesday, on suspicion of developing and distributing malicious software, or ‘malware’.

A YouTube video – posted by the NCA and viewed thousands of times over the weekend before its privacy settings were changed from ‘public’ to ‘private’ – showed officers, supported by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and other law enforcement agencies, raiding the man’s home, and seizing computer equipment which they say has potentially been used to develop malware.

At one point officers – their identities protected – were shown opening an under-desk safe and removing documents and computer disks.

The video showed the man – in handcuffs – being arrested and read his rights. Two large bags of computer equipment and documents could be seen being loaded into a car before the suspect was taken away for questioning.

Andy Archibald, deputy director of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said of the operation: “These arrests around the country this week are a result of the essential partnership activity with law enforcement, industry and government that is at the heart of fighting cybercrime.

“Criminals need to realise that committing crime online will not make them anonymous to law enforcement. We are continuously working to track down and apprehend those seeking to utilise computers for criminal ends, and to disrupt the technical networks and infrastructures supporting international cyber crime.

“It’s imperative that we continue to work with partners to pursue and disrupt the major crime groups targeting the UK, but also, crucially, work to make sure that people have the knowledge and resources to make the UK as inhospitable as possible for cyber criminals in the first place.”

National policing lead for cybercrime, deputy chief constable Peter Goodman said: “Cyber-crime is not victimless. A high-end cyber-attack against financial institutions could have a far-reaching impact on our economy.

“Small and medium sized businesses can be bankrupted by a cyber-attack with owners and staff losing their jobs. You could be seriously affected by the publication of your personal information.

“We are transforming our response to cyber-crime. We now have an effective national cyber-crime unit and regional units tackling this crime, who have worked together this week to target those who are using the internet to steal, commit fraud or impact on organisations’ ability to do their business.

“Please make it harder for these criminals to get away with it by taking simple steps to stay secure online.”

See the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-uEriFIHA (Pubic link has now been removed). 

* This article was ammended on March 10 to reflect the fact that the YouTube video has been removed.