The Guardian reports that at least four large Internet banks in Britain have been attacked by computer hackers, but the institutions concerned have been reluctant to alert authorities for fear it will damage the credibility of online banking.
The fraudulent activities were reported at the launch of a national police unit to tackle cybercrime, held at the Science Museum in London yesterday.
Police officers involved in operations aimed at breaking up organised crime say they have tracked several hackers who have made successful attacks on the Internet banks, despite the banks' denials, says The Guardian.
Bill Hughes, director general of the National Crime Squad, told the newspaper: "When businesses say they are not being 'hacked' they are not telling the truth."
Tracking down the cyber robbers who forge credit card details and other electronic identities to break into Internet banks will be just one of the tasks of the specialist police unit. To begin with the unit has 40 officers housed in a "semi-covert location" in central London. The unit will eventually have a further 40 officers in regional forces when it is fully operational in two to three years, reports The Guardian.