Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Crime (231 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Crime

Thousands Cut-off After Theft of BT Copper Telecoms Cable in Billingham

23rd September, 2014 (27 Comments)

Criminals have disrupted the broadband and phone services for at least 5,000 people and businesses in the North East England town of Billingham (Durham), which is home to a total population of 36,000+, after they stole large sections of vital copper telecoms cable from BT’s local network.

FREE WiFi Plan for Newcastle and Gateshead At Risk Over GOWEX Trouble

7th July, 2014 (3 Comments)

The new plan to roll-out a free wireless Internet (wifi hotspot) network across “scores of public areas” in Newcastle and Gateshead (North East England) could be at risk after it emerged that Spain-based GOWEX, which had been appointed to setup the new infrastructure, had falsified its accounts and filed for bankruptcy.

24 Million Home Routers and ISPs Open to DNS DDoS Amplification Attacks

2nd April, 2014 (1 Comment)

A new report from Nominum, which provides ISPs with DNS based analytics and monetization solutions, has claimed that 24 million home broadband routers, including many in the UK, could be exposing ISPs and their users to becoming unwitting participants in massive Internet DNS-based Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

ATVOD Demand Mandatory UK Internet Age Checks for Adult Websites

28th March, 2014 (2 Comments)

The Authority for Television On Demand has called on the Government to reinforce in law the requirement for UK operators of adult websites, specifically those that peddle pornography, to put workable Age Verification in front of R18 content or risk having their funding sources blocked. Now they just need to figure out the “how“.

European Court of Justice Says ISPs Must Block Piracy Websites

27th March, 2014 (8 Comments)

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has today ruled that Internet Service Providers (ISP) across the EU can now be ordered to block their customers from being able to access a copyright-infringing website (e.g. The Pirate Bay). But national courts will still have the final say.

Piracy Website Blocks by UK ISPs Trigger 20 Percent Fall in P2P Traffic

24th March, 2014 (12 Comments)

The annual Digital Music Report 2014 from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has claimed that the website blocking measures implemented by ISPs have become a “widely-accepted and effective way of curbing piracy online“, especially in Europe and the UK where BitTorrent (P2P) file sharing traffic is said to have fallen.

BT Changes UK Phone Call Clearing Procedure to Stop Fraudsters

12th March, 2014 (7 Comments)

BT are about to make a small but important change, which will significantly reduce the time that a phone call connection is held open (active) after the called party puts their handset down (i.e. such as when you end a voice call). It’s hoped this will make it more difficult for fraudsters to trick people into thinking they’ve called a legitimate service.

Is it the ISPs Fault if Your Home Broadband Router Gets Hacked?

11th March, 2014 (21 Comments)

As consumers we have a right to be huffy at our ISPs when something goes wrong. But is the Internet provider still to blame if, as in the recent cases of AAISP and now PlusNet, your home broadband router ends up being hijacked by a DNS redirection exploit?

UPD Hackers Hijack 300K Home and Office Broadband Routers from Big Brands

4th March, 2014 (2 Comments)

Researchers working for Team Cymru’s Threat Intelligence Group have discovered that over 300,000 consumer-grade small office / home (SOHO) broadband routers, including those from brands like ZyXEL, D-Link, Micronet, Tenda, TP-Link and others, have been hijacked as part of a man-in-the-middle style attack.

Labour Party Moot 3rd Attempt to Revive UK Internet Snooping Law

3rd March, 2014 (6 Comments)

The British Labour Party looks set to take a 3rd swipe at reviving their failed Internet Snooping laws, which over the past 6 years have twice been rejected due to issues of unpopularity, cost, technical viability and general confusion.

UPDATE North Yorkshire Police Investigate Wireless Broadband ISP Kit Theft

13th February, 2014 (0 Comments)

The North Yorkshire Police (England) have launched an investigation after a wireless broadband server, which helped to provide Internet access to the local area, was stolen from a mast located close to Newton-upon-Rawcliffe on Sunday 9th February 2014.

Innocent Home Owners Suffer Due to Crimes Committed on their Open WiFi

3rd February, 2014 (5 Comments)

The Scottish Government’s “Cyber Integrator” (cybercrime tzar), Keith McDevitt, has warned home owners to close their open wifi networks (wireless) after finding that an increasing number of cyber criminals, such as Internet paedophiles, were using them to commit offences that ISPs often trace back to innocent broadband users.

BT Openreach Launch Cable Theft and Damage Report Service for UK ISPs

18th December, 2013 (9 Comments)

BTOpenreach has announced that its LIVE cable monitoring system, which proactively notifies broadband ISPs and phone operators about Major Service Outage’s on BT’s national UK telecoms network (specifically those that stem from cable damage or theft), is now out of its long trial and has been made available to ISPs.

Copper Cable Theft Knocks Out Sky Broadband in South and West London

13th December, 2013 (2 Comments)

Tens of thousands of Sky Broadband customers in the South and West London area have been left without broadband and phone connectivity after thieves, whom attempted to steal vital copper telecoms cable from a site in West London (Great West Road) on 10th December, cut several vital fibre optic links.

UPD B4RN Rural Broadband Project Hit by Serious Criminal Theft in Lancashire

10th December, 2013 (25 Comments)

The B4RN (Broadband 4 Rural North) project in Lancashire (England) could face delays to the roll-out of their 1Gbps capable community-built and funded Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) based broadband network after thieves broke into one of their trailers and made off with critical equipment. Luckily locals have pulled together to help keep the work on track.

BT Employee and Copper Telecoms Thieves Jailed After UK Police Sting

2nd December, 2013 (3 Comments)

The Snaresbrook Crown Court has sentenced a corrupt former BT employee and members of a criminal gang to a total of over 32 years in jail after they were found to have colluded over the theft and damage of vital copper broadband and phone cable, which cost the telecoms operator a total of £279,635.00.

Two Yorkshire and the Humber Villages Struck by 5 BT Copper Thefts

22nd October, 2013 (21 Comments)

Copper cable thieves cut-off broadband and phone services to around 100 premises in the small villages of West Butterwick and Althorpe (North Lincolnshire, England) after they struck the area for the fifth consecutive time in the space of just two years.