Once we used to keep records on criminals, now they keep records on us, by stealing ours, Peter Warren, chairman, Cyber Security Research Institute.

About the author  Peter Warren, is the chairman of the Cyber Security Research Institute, a not-for-profit organisation committed to producing accurate information about trends in technology crime and what to do about them.  He is a well known investigative journalist with a specialism in technology  Peter has worked frequently with the Sunday Times Insight team, the Sunday Times and the Guardian and most national newspaper.  A former associate producer for BBC 2 news and current affairs and the investigations editor for BBC2’s ‘The Net’  He is also the co=author of the critically acclaimed ‘Cyber Alert’ published in 2005, which accurately warned of the emergence of organised computer crime gangs

The High-tech crimewave  It is not new - criminals have always been fascinated by technology.  Crime is part of the human condition and technology crime is simply using technology to do things the state has legislated against.  What is new are the numbers. The internet and computer technology amplifies everything. Pre-internet what was once a wave is now a tidal wave

So what is happening?  Criminals have focussed on technology for the easy money.  To support this a criminal economy has developed  While the fertile uplands of Silicon Valley developed technology Silicon Hell was spawning crime gangs coming up with ways to subvert it.

Creative and innovative  Criminals are early adopters of technology  Criminals see the potential to make money by subverting technology very quickly  They see need and work quickly to cater to it  They are great technological innovators

How is it done?  The dark side of the internet has built a mirror of the light side that uses the same methods  Silicon Hell is highly specialised  It uses some of the top people.  People work for it without being aware

Where is Silicon Hell  Silicon Hell is now spread all around the world from Russia to Brazil from China to West Africa.  Criminal activities exist in every country in the world – the UK is no exception  Computer criminals have their own cloud.

The internet the new university of crime  Guides exist to teach you to become a hacker  Videos showing you what to do are on Youtube  A lucrative criminal sideline beckons.

The crime emporium  The value is in the data – we are in the information age  The theft of data is at the heart of computer crime  All data has a price

And.. Even the criminals wipe their drives..do you?