Internet crime - Criminal evolution heads online

Katherine Brandon exposes the risks presented by malware to brokers' IT systems

The internet has created a new crime zone in which criminal activity is much harder to trace. Where criminals once had to break into an office to steal data, the internet now allows hackers worldwide to access UK IT systems by using malware - any program that carries out undesirable actions on a computer.

E-mail spreads the bulk of malware and its ruse is simple: open an innocuous-looking e-mail then click on a weblink and you are sent inadvertently to an infected site, at which point the hacker