Security News > 2000 > May > South African police take on cybercrime

http://www.netassets.co.za/netassets/sitewide/content/direct/1,2275,621905-5858-0,00.html By Gugulakhe Masango, I-Net Bridge The criminal activities of hackers and cyberpunks are to come to an abrupt end when a new police cybercrime unit invades their space. The South African Cybercrime Unit is expected to be in operation as soon as possible, says Nasser Mohammed, the director of crime services at the South African Police Services (SAPS). Advertisements for the posts have already been placed in the national media although the SAPS is unsure how many people it would hire for the elite unit. The introduction of the unit comes at a time when cybercrime in SA is on the increase. In March this year intruders plastered anti-Telkom messages on the South African government statistics website. Hackers also defaced the SAPS website earlier this year. Hackers have also tried to pry their way into many corporate websites, increasing fears of sabotage, fraud, online blackmail, money laundering and the spreading of viruses. The cybercrime unit would ensure effective law enforcement in dealing with computer crimes, Mohammed said, adding that hackers would be dealt with as quickly as possible. "We envisaged having a strong unit that would deal with computer crimes," said Mohammed. [...] *-------------------------------------------------* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC --------------------------------------------------- C4I Secure Solutions http://www.c4i.org *-------------------------------------------------* ISN is sponsored by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of "SIGNOFF ISN".

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