Government pins hopes on team effort to beat e-fraudsters

The Home Office has created Britain's first dedicated cyber-police team to combat the growing threat of electronic crime.

Last week the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, announced that the unit would be formed "as soon as possible," and would be made up of National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) employees who will work alongside regular police officers.

IT experts from the private sector and the Inland Revenue will be enlisted to track down those committing electronic fraud, and the Home Office has confirmed that MI5 and GCHQ will also have some involvement in the unit.

Rob Hailstone, analyst at Bloor Research, said that the announcement would have been better earlier, but that "we can't allow it to be too late. The world is being opened up to a new way of business and hackers, like highwaymen, glorify their activities but hold up progress," he said.

Hailstone said that the group was unlikely to have the necessary equipment and expertise to start with, but help from independent consultants and international co-operation from countries such as the US - which have already established cyber police - would help enormously.

The Home Office is working with the US government, the European Union, Canada and others to create a draft cyber crime treaty to stem the threat of online fraud before the criminals become too sophisticated.