Police gear up to fight cyber crims

New Zealand police are gearing up to fight increasingly clever cyber criminals.

And computer users were warned against complacency following a High Court judge's decision to discharge a Whitianga teenager without conviction in Hamilton today.

"It's a type of crime that will become more prolific as time goes on, and something New Zealand police are adapting to address, together with our global partners," police E-Crime Laboratory national manager Maarten Kleintjes said.

"Electronic crime is not governed by traditional barriers such as borders or time delays," he said.

"When you step in to the internet you step into a borderless environment which knows no boundaries."

Mr Kleintjes said technology changed quickly and police staff had to be upskilled continuously to be effective.

Police here needed to build up relationships with the various law enforcement agencies overseas.

Mr Kleintjes said he had just got the green light to get a national cyber crime centre off the ground over the next 12 months.

A key strategy would be to marry up the efforts of different agencies to avoid duplication.

The prosecution of Owen Walker, 18, who has Aspergers Syndrome, was the first of its kind for New Zealand, he said. It was a first, too, for Dutch authorities who took part, along with United States law enforcement agencies.

"The sentencing today brings a successful conclusion to months of intensive work by a multi-national, inter-agency investigation team," Waikato crime services manager Detective Inspector Peter Devoy said.

"The operation would not have been a success without the close co-operation and our relationship with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has been enhanced by this case."

Asked if any public backlash was expected after Mr Walker's discharge without conviction, Mr Devoy said it was a "very interesting, very unique case" which had attracted wide publicity overseas as well as in this country.

"The sentence is a very considered sentence, comprehensively discussed in court today," he said.

There was potential interest at this stage in putting Mr Walker's skills to use to fight crime, he said.

The teenager had been frank and co-operative, explaining and showing police how to shutdown his unique botnet.

"I would certainly like to think that the community will see it as a positive (bringing Walker in to help police tackle internet crime)," Mr Devoy said.

Mr Kleintjes said the Whitianga youth had certainly put New Zealand on the world map.

"It was a surprise to us, and the rest of the world, too."

There were likely to be many more young people experimenting in cyber space but the danger was organised crime pulling them in to join criminal schemes such as fraud.

But everybody on the internet left traces somewhere and illegal activity would be found out eventually, Mr Kleintjes said.

- NZPA