Cops set up cyber unit to tackle Internet villains

The police will set up a special cyber unit for tackling Internet crime, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino announced on Monday.

The unit, manned by 60 officers, will specialize in combating the growing threat of online crime.

Danino said that when it comes to the Internet, crime organizations bear similarities to terror groups.

“They change from a local group to global, from a hierarchy to a network, and their level of sophistication is constantly growing,” he said. “Criminal trafficking methods are being used to serve terrorists and so the issues become more significant. Cyber-crime has the characteristics of terror.”

Danino, who last week participated in an Interpol conference in Rome, said that cyber-crime is seen as one of the biggest challenges facing police forces around the world.

Last month police computers were targeted in a hacking attack, prompting officials to disconnect the police system from the Internet.