20 Sep 2002
Police arrest suspected UK hacker after international operation
Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection, has
welcomed the increasing co-operation between international computer
crime units towards fighting cyber crime. This follows the arrest
of a British man suspected of writing and distributing the T0rn rootkit, a tool
created to aid the hacking of Linux servers.
Scotland Yard, in co-operation with the FBI, have arrested a 21
year old man in the London suburb of Surbiton under the Computer
Misuse Act 1990. Computer equipment was seized from his home and is
currently being analysed by officers from Scotland Yard.
"Hackers, viruses and worms do not recognise national
boundaries; a computer in San Francisco could be broken into by a
youth in a leafy Surrey back bedroom," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. "It is encouraging to
see the US and UK authorities working together to help stamp out
computer crime. Let's hope that if guilty, a suitable punishment is
handed out that acts as a deterrent to other cybercrime
wannabes."
The man, who has not been named, has been bailed pending further
inquiries.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.