‘Hackers for hire’ fake websites snare cyber criminals

POLICE have set up fake websites purporting to sell hacker services as part of a sting to snare cyber criminals.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it had logged the details of thousands of potential hackers after infiltrating “the online criminal marketplace”.

It set up several sites offering for-hire services to perform cyber attacks known as Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS), which have been used in highprofile hacks on the Labour Party, the BBC and The Daily Telegraph.

Now, users trying to access the website are presented with a warning message saying: “This site was created and controlled by the NCA. “The NCA has collected substantial data from those who have accessed our domain. We will share this data with international law enforcement for action.”

Alan Merrett, from the NCA’S national cyber crime unit, said:“we will not reveal how many sites we have, or for how long they have been running.

“Going forward, people who wish to use these services can’t be sure who is actually behind them, so why take the risk?”