Poles arrested in UK on cyber-attack charges

Photo: Glowimages

The Poles, both reported to be in their thirties, were arrested on Wednesday at a hotel near Manchester airport in north west England in an operation coordinating police forces from the UK, US and Poland.

During the cyber-attack, one of the company's web sites crashed, say police, as the hackers flooded the site with requests and information.

"Denial of service attacks have become increasingly common offences in recent years and can have a devastating effect on the victim's online business or presence," said Chris Mossop, detective inspector at the Serious Crime Division of Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

The motive for the attack is believed to have been blackmail.

"These arrests demonstrate that GMP takes cyber crime and extortion extremely seriously and will vigorously investigate allegations,” the police spokesman told Manchester Evening News. (pg)