Cyber crime

20 May 2019

Crunching the numbers: is the National Crime Agency right to seek additional funding?

As the National Crime Agency (“NCA”) releases its 2019 National Strategy Assessment, NCA Director General Lynne Owens is calling for an extra £2.7 billion in law enforcement funding to combat serious and organised crime over the next three years. With 4,542 active UK-based organised crime groups and 181,000 UK people involved in serious and organised crime, law enforcement agencies are starting to creak under the strain. In this blog, we review the National Strategy Assessment’s analysis of current trends in financial offending and we look at the authorities’ response within their current funding arrangements. Against that background, we consider the argument for greater investment in law enforcement capacity.

13 February 2019

Responding to blackmail if you are not Jeff Bezos

The Jeff Bezos blackmail story has captured attention for a number of reasons. Not only did Mr Bezos, the world’s richest man, bravely call out his blackmailer in an attempt to neuter embarrassing information with which he was being threatened, he also exposed what he considered a politically motivated vendetta, thereby creating a diversion from the awkward images at the heart of the story.

17 January 2019

FCA sharpens focus on crypto cowboys

The recent confirmation by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that it is investigating 18 firms involved in the sale of crypto assets, such as Bitcoin, indicates a ramping up of regulatory focus on the controversial sector.

15 November 2018

ICO secures first prosecution under Computer Misuse Act

In a move which demonstrates that it has real teeth as a criminal prosecutor, the Information Commissioners’ Office has secured its first prosecution under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

27 July 2018

Cryptocurrencies: the new face of economic crime?

The Treasury Committee’s inquiry into economic crime is one of the most wide-ranging of the committee’s current workstreams, and its conclusions are keenly awaited.

As well as assessing the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering regime in the UK, MPs have been examining the impact of economic crime on consumers.