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The hacker tried to steal as much as £220mn from accounts held at the Sumitomo Mitsui bank using keylogging software, before being intercepted by the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU). The bank says that no money was illegally transferred and a man has now been arrested in Israel on charges of money laundering and deception. The investigations are ongoing.

It seems that key-logging software was used as part of the attack in order to gain access to sensitive corporate data, and security specialists have highlighted the growing threat from this area of malware.

'In light of these events,' said SurfControl marketing director, Martino Corbelli, corporations must take a long hard look at the way in which they deal with all emerging threats, such as Spyware, Instant Messaging, Peer-to-peer etc. and put in place more effective measures to deal with them proactively if they are to avoid becoming involved in a similar situation themselves.'

'Spyware is by no means a new threat and has been around in various forms for a number of years,' he said, 'but the difference now is that the criminal community is now starting to exploit it to its advantage. Businesses need to be able to stop this type of code from entering the network in the first place, as well as instigating clean-up

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operations from existing malware - something that can only be achieved through comprehensive content filtering.'

Sophos, meanwhile, has seen a three-fold increase in such attacks in the past year.

'Over the last twelve months, we have seen a dramatic rise in the number of new viruses, worms and Trojan horses designed to steal the keystrokes of innocent computer users,' said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. 'Sophos's labs produce protection against approximately 15 new pieces of malware which include this sinister payload every day, compared to 5 a day a year ago.'

'The information stolen by this kind of attack can be equivalent to someone watching over your shoulder as you type your password into the computer,' he added. 'Hacking gangs are actively hunting for vulnerable computers in order to steal information and empty bank accounts.'

As for the NHTCU, it is increasingly making a name for itself in the wake of a number of high-profile cyber crime cases. Last year, for example, it tackled online extortion against certain UK bookmakers - Russian protection racket raided by Hi-Tech Crime Unit . And on the banking front, it tackled a phishing attempt against Smile customers - UK phisher caught in net

While the Sumitomo Mitsui bank will be relieved to have escaped with its balances intact, no financial institution welcomes such attention and the attendant threat to public confidence. Indeed, it is reported that many e-crimes go unreported, with the institutions choosing to shy away from any bad publicity, even at the cost of expensive frauds.

The British banking industry has published information about how online bank users can stay safe online at www.banksafeonline.org.uk.