The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) has revealed that one of its first operations has been to help crack an international global software piracy organisation. The unit, set up with £25 million of Government cash in April, took part in a worldwide action against the DrinkOrDie warez group.
As a result of the joint investigation with the US Customs Service Cyber Smuggling Team, in mid-December the NHTCU arrested nine men for alleged conspiracy to defraud. The DrinkOrDie organisation is thought to be one of the largest and most sophisticated of the warez groups, responsible for the illegal distribution of millions of pounds worth of cracked softare.
The operation marks a stepping-up of international cyber-crime policing activity around the world. The US cops carried out raids in 27 cities, and the Australians, Finns and Norweigans got involved in the DrinkOrDie crackdown too. Further warez investigations are on the cards as well, and with the signing of the European Convention on Cybercrime in November, there should be even more international co-operation in these cases from now on. |
It's been a busy time for online policing in the last few months. The National Crime Squad snared a group of Net credit card scammers in December, and got involved in an international Web paedophile crackdown in November. These are the sort of operations that the NHTCU will be dealing with in the future.
Source: .Net
