Met police cyber division to double in size

The PCeU has received additional government funding

The Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU), the cyber division of the Metropolitan Police, will more than double in size thanks to it having secured funding made available as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).

The Review, which was announced in October last year, saw the provision of an additional £650m funding towards the fight against cyber cime as it raised the threat to 'tier one' status.

Charlie McMurdie, head of economic and cyber crime at the PCeU, announced at the 'Working Together to Improve UK Cyber Security' conference this week that her unit had been successful in its bid for part of that funding.

"We have just received additional funding as a result of our SDSR bid," she said. "We have 40 staff now, soon to grow to 80 or 90 in the central unit."

McMurdie spoke of the challenges her team faces in the UK, whose relatively advanced infrastructure makes it a convenient location for cyber crime.

"They like to do cyber crime and cash out in the UK," she explained. "Here you can transfer money and draw it out immediately. You don't need to wait two days for it to clear. A lot of end game crime happens here."

She added that often cyber criminals have foot soldiers on the ground at ATM machines ready to draw out funds as soon as they are transferred.

"The biggest challenge with cyber crime is time; money moves or servers change at the flick of a switch," she said.