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A last-minute change to the timetable at Infosec 2008 saw Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie take the stage to outline plans for the new unit, which she says is currently in the process of acquiring funding from the police, government and industry.

"I'm fairly convinced that we are going to get that money, one way or another," McMurdie told delegates.

"The unit needs about 50 staff, not all police officers but people from industry as well," she said, stating that the Met police had already budgeted £1.3 million.

According to McMurdie, the force is hoping that the Home Office would be able to match this funding, alongside financial support from industry and vendors.

McMurdie

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said the unit, dubbed the Police Central e-crime Unit, was vital because it was almost impossible for the police to handle e-crime with its present structure.

Before the Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCA) was established, there was a National High-Tech Crime Unit, but this was absorbed into the larger organisation. According to many observers, the e-crime policing function has largely vanished.

Paul Simmonds, chief information officer for ICI, reiterated industry need for the unit: "I won't name names, but there was a major British financial organisation saying: 'Since the demise of the National High-Tech Crime Unit, the instructions are that we should ring up our local police force'."

"This is a major high-street financial organisation that has a major issue with credit cards ringing up its police force and reporting as advised," he said.

"The police force said, as you could imagine, 'what are we supposed to do about it?'"

Earlier this month, the conservative shadow home secretary David Davis called the Government's decision to fold the High-Tech Crime Unit into the Serious Organised Crime Unit "absurd".