The Home Affairs Select Committee said much low-level internet-based financial crime was falling into a "black hole" and was not reported to the police. The MPs said more officers should be trained in digital crime detection and e-crime experts protected from cuts. The Home Office said the authorities must "keep pace" with criminals.
Publishing its first report on the subject, the cross-party committee said e-crime took various forms, did not recognise national borders and could be committed "at almost any time or in any place".
It called for a dedicated cyber-espionage team to respond to attacks, many of which are believed to be backed by foreign governments because they are so sophisticated.
Offences range from attacks on computer networks and the use of viruses to steal data to the use of cyberspace to facilitate traditional crimes such as forgery, sabotage, drug smuggling and people trafficking. The committee said it was worried by the evidence it had heard during its inquiry about the UK's e-crime fighting capability.
It said it had been told by Adrian Leppard, deputy assistant commissioner at the City of London Police, that up to a quarter of the UK's 800 specialist internet crime officers could be lost due to budget cuts. This was despite evidence the UK was a prime target for many of the 1,300 criminal gangs specialising in fraud.
Source: BBC News
