Cyber crime gangs target Irish firms

CRIME gangs are extorting thousands of euro from Irish businesses by attacking and hijacking their computer systems and websites, according to the Garda hi-tech crime squad.

The Computer Crime Investigation Unit said foreign gangs, sometimes in conjunction with Irish criminals, are flying in specialist hackers from abroad to target companies here.

The head of the unit, Detective Inspector Paul Gillen said a “major problem” for law enforcement agencies will be criminals’ ability to avoid having to possess criminal evidence by storing their data remotely on a server in another country.