Legal News

The recent worldwide cyber-attack that brought vast parts of the NHS to a stand-still and left many patients in chronic pain without access to treatment, has brought into sharp focus how much we rely on all things cyber related.

The attack was carried out using a computer worm called Ransomware which works by locking a computer’s files until ransom is paid; in this case each ransom was set at $300 of virtual currency Bitcoin - the equivalent of £230. 200,000 users across 150 countries are estimated to have been effected by the attack, including the Sri Lankan healthcare operating system and Russia’s interior ministry.

The flaw in the Microsoft operating system which Ransomware exploits was first identified by US intelligence – it was subsequently stolen and is now used by cyber-criminal gangs across the globe.

Ransomware is particularly dangerous as it can spread by itself, rather than relying on the clicks of users to take it to new parts of operating systems. This is why it is extremely popular with hackers who want to infect large organisations, as once the worm is in the operating system it will hunt down and infect all vulnerable computers.

Whilst this story is what is typically considered ‘cybercrime’ the term covers a far wider reaching collection of crimes than many people realise. Essentially it is any crime that is carried out using a computer or the internet. Broadly speaking it falls into two main categories:

1) Offences such as the one which has just been discussed, where the computer is the ‘victim’ of the activity; such has hacking, spamming, deployment of viruses.

2) The second is where a computer is the tool through which the crime is carried, fraud is a more obvious example of this, but it also relates crimes such as child pornography, identity theft, possession of indecent images of children and hate crimes.

Cybercrime is often legally very complex – in cases of hacking there recognised legitimate differences between what constitutes unlawful behaviour. In terms of, for example hate crimes, there is a grey area between what is freedom of expression and abusive communications. Because of these subtle and recognised terminological differences companies and private individuals can find themselves caught up in an investigation without realising that potentially illegal or fraudulent activity had been taking place.

If you have been implicated in a cyber-related offense Duncan Lewis Solicitors team of expert Crime Solicitors can help advise you at every stage of the prosecution process.

Cyber and Internet crime can involve a wide range of circumstances, ranging from Breaches of the Official Secrets Act and Hacking, to IT crime and Internet fraud (e.g. business fraud & banking fraud), to online grooming and revenge porn. Because of the nature of cyber and internet fraud, some cases may involve cross-border issues and even extradition.

Duncan Lewis Crime Lawyers can advise on all types of cyber-crime and online offences. As cyber-crime often involves an intersection of different areas of law, Duncan Lewis Crime Lawyers also have the strong support of departments covering Human Rights and Civil Liberties, Fraud & Business Fraud, Property, Immigration and Child Care law.

A member of the Duncan Lewis criminal defence team can usually reach a client at a police station or court within 45 minutes to offer expert legal advice on all criminal charges and for police interview under caution. However, you do not have to wait until you have been arrested to call a Duncan Lewis lawyer – call Duncan Lewis any time on 020 7923 4020 for expert legal advice or contact rubini@duncanlewis.com.

For 24/7 help at a police station in England and Wales, call the Duncan Lewis Emergency Hotline on 020 7275 2036.

Director & Solicitor Advocate, Rubin Italia specialises in criminal defence work in a broad range of offences from minor road traffic cases to murder, rape, extradition and serious complex crime, including large-scale drug conspiracies and complex immigration-related crimes. Rubin has a significant practice defending clients with mental health problems with insanity defence cases; he continues to represent a number of clients at Broadmoor.

His fraud practice includes defending cases investigated and prosecuted by the National Crime Agency (previously SOCA), HMRC, the Serious Fraud Office, UK Borders Agency, Economic Crime Units, the DWP, local authorities and Trading Standards. He has a niche focus in immigration related fraud, ‘cuckoo smurfing’ money laundering cases, high-value confiscation proceedings and benefit/tax fraud defence work. Rubin deals with full range of criminal offences from police station representation up to Crown Court trials, appeals and judicial review. Rubin has been recognised by Chambers UK as a Leader in his field.