davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk (David J Ferbrache) (11/27/90)
Since the passing of the Computer Misuse act of 1990, the insertion of viral material into computer systems has become an offence which may result in up to 5 years imprisonment. The insertion of viruses is dealt with under the offence of unauthorised modification of computer data, and was a problem specifically addressed in the English Law Commission report 186 (para 3.65 (2)). The UK police have established a central "Computer crime unit" who are interested in monitoring all infections by computer viruses within the UK. This unit is currently four strong and consists of a Detective Inspector, Detective Sergeant and two Detective constables and is located at New Scotland Yard, London. They are keen for any person, organisation or company infected by a virus to report the infection. This will allow the construction of a picture of the damage caused by the virus infection, and provide useful background material for a prosecution if the author is ever located. In this regard they have asked anyone in the UK experiencing a computer virus infection to contact: Noel Bonczonzek Computer crime unit 071-725-2409 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dave Ferbrache Internet <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk> Dept of computer science Janet <davidf@uk.ac.hw.cs> Heriot-Watt University UUCP ..!mcvax!hwcs!davidf 79 Grassmarket Telephone +44 31-225-6465 ext 538 Edinburgh, United Kingdom Facsimile +44 31-220-4277 EH1 2HJ Cellular +44 831-223120 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stevedc@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Stephen Carter) (12/04/90)
davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk (David J Ferbrache) writes: > The UK police have established a central "Computer crime unit" who are > interested in monitoring all infections by computer viruses within the > UK. This unit is currently four strong and consists of a Detective > Inspector, Detective Sergeant and two Detective constables and is > located at New Scotland Yard, London. > > They are keen for any person, organisation or company infected by a > virus to report the infection. This will allow the construction of a > picture of the damage caused by the virus infection, and provide > useful background material for a prosecution if the author is ever > located. > > In this regard they have asked anyone in the UK experiencing a > computer virus infection to contact: > > Noel Bonczonzek > Computer crime unit > 071-725-2409 Eh? Silly. Surely if they are really serious about this they'd get a feed off the net and read this newsgroup! Anyway, can we really believe that 'they' take any computer crime seriously when such a small unit is set up, in which BTW at least 3 of the 4 officers by all accountsa only serve in it for a relativley short period of time... Stephen Carter, Systems Manager, The Administration, The University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9RH, UK Tel: +44 273 678203 Fax: +44 273 678335 JANET: stevedc@uk.ac.sussex.syma EARN/BITNET : stevedc@syma.sussex.ac.uk UUCP: stevedc@syma.uucp ARPA/INTERNET: stevedc%syma.sussex.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
rtravsky@UWYO.BITNET (Richard W Travsky) (12/05/90)
From: Stephen Carter <stevedc@syma.sussex.ac.uk>: > davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk (David J Ferbrache) writes: > > The UK police have established a central "Computer crime unit" who are > > interested in monitoring all infections by computer viruses within the UK. > ... > > They are keen for any person, organisation or company infected by a > > virus to report the infection. This will allow the construction of a > > picture of the damage caused by the virus infection, and provide > > useful background material for a prosecution if the author is ever > > located. > ... > Eh? Silly. Surely if they are really serious about this they'd get a > feed off the net and read this newsgroup! They may have a feed. Even if they don't, not every company or organization that uses pcs/macs will have a feed. Besides, reading the list isn't the same as filling out a report to the police... Consider also many do not report such things (for one reason or another - such as not knowing who to report it to) and if nothing else this will elicit the scope of infections. > Anyway, can we really believe that 'they' take any computer crime seriously > when such a small unit is set up, in which BTW at least 3 of the 4 officers > by all accounts only serve in it for a relativley short period of time... Sounds like first they'd want to gather statistics to see how much of problem it is before justifying more people and resources. P.S. Do they get to wear neat uniforms? Richard Travsky Bitnet: RTRAVSKY @ UWYO Division of Information Technology Internet: RTRAVSKY @ CORRAL.UWYO.EDU University of Wyoming (303) 766 - 3663 / 3668
DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk (12/05/90)
While I agree with Stephen Carter that the size of the Scotland Yard team is derisory, there is some logic to their request to be informed specifically; as I understand it, their hands are tied unless someone explictly complains to them. Our crazy legal system is definitely biased in favour of the criminal...
XPUM04@prime-a.central-services.umist.ac.uk (Anthony Appleyard) (12/19/90)
I received this message from 'pandy <pandy@fi.hut.superman>':-
"The UK Computer Crime Unit hasn't got an email-address, nor do they
read these UUCP-news. Pandy
******************
pandy@spiff.hut.fi"
If they aren't in contact with the computing world, how can they operate
effectively? If they can't email, and have to rely on GPO mail and the
phone and personal visits, and can't get email circulars, they are going to
be way behind developments. Can't they afford a microcomputer and a modem?
from {A.Appleyard} (email: APPLEYARD@UK.AC.UMIST), Wed, 19 Dec 90 09:46:20 GMTherrickd@uunet.UU.NET (daniel lance herrick) (01/10/91)
ccx020@cck.cov.ac.uk (James Nash) writes: > XPUM04@prime-a.central-services.umist.ac.uk (Anthony Appleyard) writes: >>>"The UK Computer Crime Unit hasn't got an email-address, nor do they >>>read these UUCP-news. Pandy >>>pandy@spiff.hut.fi" >> >>If they aren't in contact with the computing world, how can they operate >>effectively? If they can't email, and have to rely on GPO mail and the >>phone and personal visits, and can't get email circulars, they are going to >>be way behind developments. Can't they afford a microcomputer and a modem? > > The reason why the UK CCU has such a small budget is because their > superiors do not believe there is a problem. If more people in the UK > actually reported viral infections as crimes then the police might be > interested in solving those crimes. We are years behind America and > other nations in this respect. Is there a system manager geographically near them who reads this and could invite them over to get acquainted? Show them some of the existing cooperative anti-vandal effort? Give both you and them new resources? Offer them access to the net through your system, either by phone or by coming to your facility to use a local terminal? dan herrick herrickd@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com
nigelm@ohm.york.ac.uk (Nigel Metheringham) (03/05/91)
Following last December's note about the UK computer crime unit, and a pair of very minor hits here (Stoned & Joshi - both nipped in the bud), I tried reporting the infections to the UK Computer Crime Unit. They are basically in a position of trying to justify their existance at the moment - if they do not get reports of viruses, then the government will see no reason to consider viruses a problem, and will not fund them. It is therefore in our best interest to ensure that all virus infections discovered in the UK are reported to the unit. The sort of information they want is:- Name, (company) address, phone etc. Type of virus (if known). Machines affected (number, type, sensitivity of data). Tools used to detect/remove. Source of infection (if known). "Live" copy. The live copy is required for evidential purposes - they will arrange for collection of a disk by one of the local police (or I assume you could send it by post). Most people who call them have already cleaned their systems up, so they are not getting many live ones yet! The person to contact is:- Noel Bonczonzek Computer Crime Unit 071 725 2490 (the number was incorrect in the Dec virus-l-digest). They don't have a network connection (as far as I know), but if there is a demonstrated need then maybe they would get one, so report any virus hits - PLEASE! Nigel. [ I asked Noel Bonczonzek if distributing this sort of information ] [ would be useful to them. He said that it would be useful, but the ] [ contents of this message are my interpretation of what he said to ] [ me, so I am responsible for any misinformation, not the UK-CCU. ] - -- % Nigel Metheringham, System Administrator, Department of Electronics % % University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO1 5DD % % Phone: +44 904 432374 Fax: +44 904 432335 Mail: nigelm@ohm.york.ac.uk % % #include <std_disclaimer.h> % Keyboard error - fingers dumped! %