13/09/2013

Arrests Over Bank Cyber-Hacking Plot

Police have said 12 men have been arrested over an alleged "audacious" plot to remotely take control of a bank's computer.

A device was found fitted to a computer in a Santander branch in Surrey Quays, which would have allowed the suspects to download data from the desktop machine.

The men, aged between 23 and 50, were arrested in London on suspicion of conspiracy to steal.

The plot was described by police as "very significant".

It is understood a number of addresses in Hounslow, Brent, Hillingdon, Westminster, Richmond and Slough were also searched and property was seized.

The Metropolitan Police said its "time-critical, dynamic response" had thwarted a "very significant and audacious cyber-enabled offence".

It added that the operation had helped avoid "multimillion-pound losses from Santander at Surrey Quays shopping centre".

A spokesperson continued: "The offence involved deploying a KVM (keyboard video mouse) device, fitted to a computer within the bank branch, allowing the transmission of the complete desktop contents of the bank computer over the network."

This would have allowed the remote takeover of the bank's computers.

The men, who were detained on Thursday, are still in police custody.

(JP/CD)

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