TWO suspected computer hackers have been arrested in the North-East as part of a major nationwide crackdown on cybercrime.

The pair were among 57 people arrested during 25 separate raids across England, Scotland and Wales for offences ranging from stealing data, online fraud and deploying computer viruses.

A 21-year-old man was arrested in County Durham by Police Scotland over a bid to shut down the force’s website. It is understood the investigation relates to a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack which involves blocking the network to users, often resulting in overloading the server.

On Thursday, a 51-year-old man was arrested in Houghton-le-Spring, on Wearside, over allegations that he hacked into a company’s website in January. The man, who was arrested on suspicion of gaining unauthorised access to computer material, was bailed pending further inquiries.

The raid was carried out by officers from the North East Regional Special Operations Unit (NERSOU) as part of a week-long operation spearheaded by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

A spokesman for NERSOU said: “Our aim is to root out those cyber criminals who are taking satisfaction from bringing down organisational networks, hacking into people’s systems and deploying sophisticated malware to leave systems vulnerable.”

As part of the operation, crimefighters also visited 60 businesses, with personalised security data reports, identifying 5, 531 compromises on UK servers - which could be used to send out spam email, launch attacks against websites or servers or install phishing websites to gain access to sensitive information.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old man was arrested by NCA officers in Sutton Coldfield, in the West Midlands, in connection with a cyber attack on the United States Department of Defence (DoD).

The alleged offences are linked to data stolen from a messaging service used by DoD staff around the world.

Contact information for around 800 people, including name, title, email address and phone numbers as well as details for around 34,000 devices, were taken from an international satellite message dissemination system last June.

Following the attack, the hacker posted a bizarre message which read: “We’re in your bases, we control your satellites.”

However, the NCA added that no sensitive data was obtained and none of the data obtained could identify anyone or threaten US security.

Other arrests included:

  • A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of a network intrusion attack committed by a hacking group in which more than 400,000 email addresses and passwords from Yahoo! were stolen and published online in online in 2012.
  • A 16-year-old from Pudsey, Leeds, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police concerning the use of DDOS attacks on some 350 websites. Officers seized about £7,000 cash.
  • A 25-year-old from North London was arrested on suspicion of deploying malware against banks, resulting in financial losses.
  •  Some 25 suspects from the London and Essex areas were arrested on suspicion of cyber-enabled fraud - including fraud by false representation, theft and money laundering.

Andy Archibald, deputy director of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “The 57 arrests around the country this week are a result of the essential partnership activity with law enforcement, industry and government that is at the heart of fighting cybercrime.

“We are continuously working to track down and apprehend those seeking to utilise computers for criminal ends, and to disrupt the technical networks and infrastructures supporting international cyber crime.”

For more information on protecting yourself from cyber attacks and online security information visit www.getsafeonline.org