THE CRIMINALS ARE KEEPING
TABS ON US
Once we used to keep records on criminals, now they keep records on
us, by stealing ours,
Peter Warren, chairman, Cyber Security Research Institute .
About the author
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Peter Warren, is the chairman of the Cyber
Security Research Institute, a not-for-profit
organisation committed to producing
accurate information about trends in
technology crime and what to do about
them.
He is a well known investigative journalist
with a specialism in technology
Peter has worked frequently with the
Sunday Times Insight team, the Sunday
Times and the Guardian and most national
newspaper.
A former associate producer for BBC 2 news
and current affairs and the investigations
editor for BBC2’s ‘The Net’
He is also the co=author of the critically
acclaimed ‘Cyber Alert’ published in 2005,
which accurately warned of the emergence
of organised computer crime gangs
The High-tech crimewave
 It is not new - criminals have
always been fascinated by
technology.
 Crime is part of the human
condition and technology
crime is simply using
technology to do things the
state has legislated against.
 What is new are the numbers.
The internet and computer
technology amplifies
everything. Pre-internet what
was once a wave is now a
tidal wave
So what is happening?
 Criminals have focussed
on technology for the
easy money.
 To support this a criminal
economy has developed
 While the fertile uplands
of Silicon Valley
developed technology
Silicon Hell was
spawning crime gangs
coming up with ways to
subvert it.
Creative and innovative
 Criminals are early adopters of technology
 Criminals see the potential to make money by
subverting technology very quickly
 They see need and work quickly to cater to it
 They are great technological innovators
How is it done?
 The dark side of the
internet has built a
mirror of the light side
that uses the same
methods
 Silicon Hell is highly
specialised
 It uses some of the top
people.
 People work for it
without being aware
Where is Silicon Hell
 Silicon Hell is now spread all around the world
from Russia to Brazil from China to West
Africa.
 Criminal activities exist in every country in the
world – the UK is no exception
 Computer criminals have their own cloud.
The internet the new
university of crime
 Guides exist to teach
you to become a
hacker
 Videos showing you
what to do are on
Youtube
 A lucrative criminal
sideline beckons.
The crime emporium
 The value is in the data
– we are in the
information age
 The theft of data is at
the heart of computer
crime
 All data has a price
And.. Even the criminals
wipe their drives..do you?