Video: The rise and fall of the NHTCU website

Graham cluley
Graham Cluley
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Between 2001 and 2006 the UK’s National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) fought hackers, virus writers, internet fraudsters and other ne’er-do-wells with some success. You’ll find many reports on the Sophos website of cybercriminals that they successfully brought to justice.

As a result, many websites around the world linked to the NHTCU’s website at www.nhtcu.org – including high profile media organizations, computer security companies and British government departments.

The NHTCU’s website came to an abrupt end in April 2006, however, when the organization was closed down and its work transferred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Many in the security community raised concerns that the loss of a central e-crime police unit would only benefit the bad guys, and Sophos was amongst the companies who urged concerned citizens to sign a…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.