The team at the airport received an award for their work from the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (new window). Among the items they seized were fake GHD-branded hair straighteners worth £117,884 and counterfeit products labeled as Nintendo valued at £155,135.
Full article: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/4-million-goods-seized
The 28-page report that lays bare the frauds recorded by the Members of the CIFAS Staff Fraud Database during 2009.
Key Findings;
See Full report: Staff Fraudscape Report
£1bn worth of unlicensed software was installed in the UK last year. Britain has the sixth lowest rate of software piracy in the world at 27 per cent.
Source: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2262806/uk-1bn-worth-unlicensed 
Very interesting article / news clip on how vast quantities of personal data can be retrieved from digital photocopiers. There seems to be an amazing lack of attention to what is a potential “pot of gold” to the identity thief… I’d be intrested to here how many of you are aware of this security risk…
We are currently exhibiting at the Counter Terror Expo 2010. Visit us at stand O2 where we are showcasing our intelligence, investigation and incident management software, Intellicase, along with abmpegasus, our advanced system designed for police and law enforcement agencies for managing all areas of covert policing. The Counter Terror Expo is being held at National Hall, Olympia 14-15 April 2010.
In an SFO review it was identified that there were 2 causes contributing to the agency’s under-performance… those being the calibre of human capital and systematic weaknesses outside the control of the SFO. It was stated that New York has six heavy hitting prosecutors’ offices capable of managing financial crime cases and that there are just 2 in the UK, the SFO and the CPS’s Revenue and Customs Division… Is it right that in the UK it can take up to 18 months from charge to obtain a trial fixture date while in contrast the US Speedy Trial Act mandates that a trial starts within 70 days of indictment! ?
Many clients I speak with have the legacy of trying to pull data from disperate corporate systems. Not only is this futile and error prone it is a very lengthy process which misses key information and delays the real investigation. Documents cannot be found, logged intelligence reports are missed and it seems that even working practices within the investigation are different depending on the background of the investigators involved. All his makes measuring success difficult and unreliable. Every successful solution has three core components People, Process, Systems. From what I’m seeing it looks like very little time is put into the reviewing of outdated and broken process and making sure that people are ready to take and use new technologies and that most time is spent throwing IT at the problem and saying “job done” when in effect it’s only just started… I’d like to hear off anybody who has good or bad experiences of this…
It has been an interesting couple of months in relation to Police IT systems being used for inappropriate purposes and the link to Police corruption. It is a harsh fact of life that there will always be a few bad apples in any barrel but recently improvements in how Police IT systems are managed and audited have vastly improved. SOCA has been tasked to look at corruption in the Police Service and of course the recent conviction of a member of the Dyfed Powys Police Staff, who was using data inappropriately has probably given this a fresh impetus. It is fair to say that on my travels within the Policing Community this is taken very seriously and frequent random audit checks are undertaken and the monitoring of users on systems is fairly intense. This activity is all the more easier as ABM systems are developed to give open visibilty through the audit process, coupled with good sound training of the system being used and dedicated system administrators, it is now a simple task to undertake.
A report from HM Revenue & Customs on the jailing of a counterfeit cigarette smuggler this week highlights their commitment to tackling counterfeiting activities. Along with the lost revenue from excise duty that results from these crimes, the impact on cigarette manufacturers is huge. International Tobacco group, British American Tobacco, demonstrate the need to tackle this black market challenge internally in addition to the efforts of the Police and HMRC through their investment in ABM’s investigation management software, Intellicase, which they plan to use to help record, track and investigate criminal activity.
