Monday 16th September, 2013

As reported in the Guardian, twelve men were arrested last week on suspicion of stealing from a Santander branch after a long term investigative operation by the e-crime unit at Scotland Yard. A London branch of Santander in The Surrey Quays was targeted by the men when they allegedly fitted a computer with a keyboard device (iKVM) that allowed them to transmit contents over the network.

The keyboard device was supposedly fitted in the branch by a man masquerading as a maintenance engineer. Police prevented the plot after the gang allegedly took control of the bank's computer remotely. Had the plot been successful, millions of pounds could have been lost. The number of people arrested indicates a level of sophistication and intent which is likely to cause headaches for bank security.

Detective Inspector Mark Raymond, of PCeU, said: "This was a sophisticated plot that could have led to the loss of a very large amount of money from the bank, and is the most significant case of this kind that we have come across."