Latest Expert Witness News

Computer expert jailed after hacking victims' webcams

Computer hacker Matthew Anderson who used a virus to take control of his victims' webcams was jailed for 18 months. Anderson aged 33, was a key member of an international gang known as ‘m00p’ who abused his skills as a computer security expert to target businesses and individuals with spam containing hidden viruses. He accessed personal data and photographs in a sophisticated email scam from his mother's front room, taking control of some victim's webcams remotely to see inside their homes, at one point boasting to a friend about his acts. Anderson, from Keith, Scotland, also saved CVs, wills and confidential medical reports via his webcam scam.



Anderson, who admitted an offence under the Computer Misuse Act, appeared at Southwark crown court in central London. He was caught after an investigation by Scotland Yard and authorities in Finland into a gang writing computer viruses to order.

Investigators discovered that the m00p group was infecting computers using viruses attached to unsolicited commercial emails.

The offence was committed when Anderson was on bail for attacking the computer systems of the British National Party and the Countryside Alliance.

back