Cybercrime: arrest after 'relentless' cyber attack on health charity in the UK

• Police arrested a 45-year-old man in a dawn raid. 
• It comes after a charity was the victim of a “relentless” cyber attack. 
• The charity’s social media accounts were hacked, police have said. 

A suspected hacker has been arrested after a charity was the victim of a “relentless” months-long cyber attack. Police raided the home of a man in Scotland following an investigation into illegal hacking. 

The charity, which is based in Runcorn in Cheshire, was repeatedly the target of attacks over a four month period. It had its social media accounts, emails and finance systems hacked. 

At around 5am on Monday (15 July), officers from the Cyber Crime Unit at Cheshire Police executed a warrant at an address in Carron, Falkirk. A 45-year-old man was arrested at the address on suspicion of  computer misuse offences and fraud.

He was subsequently brought back to Cheshire to be questioned by officers and has since been released under investigation. A number of items were also recovered from the property, including computers, mobile devices and hard drives.

Detective Constable Hannah Clement, a Specialist Cyber Investigator, said: “This warrant follows a complex investigation in relation to the illegal hacking of a charity based in Runcorn. Over the past four months the charity, which provides valuable support for hundreds of people across the UK, has come under a relentless attack.

“During this time, several of the charity’s systems have been hacked, including their social media accounts, emails and finance systems. Not only has this caused a huge inconvenience to the charity, but the scale and impact of the attacks has been so large that it has now become a threat to their very existence.”

If you think you might have been a victim of cyber crime, please call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk .

Learn more about how hackers could target you or your place of work in this fantastic video explainer from CyberNews. It dives into the ways that someone would go about trying to hire a hacker - you can watch it on YouTube here.