Israeli police help UK charge student accused of cyber-crime

Israeli police have assisted in the charging of a British student for supplying so-called malware used in a string of high-profile cyber attacks.

Jack Chappell, from Stockport, is accused of running a web business supplying software used to attack the websites of several multinational firms, including Amazon and Vodafone.

Police said the 18-year-old was charged following an investigation led by the West Midlands Regional Cyber Crime Unit, assisted by Israeli Police, the FBI and Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre.

Prosecutors allege Chappell supplied Denial of Service software – which crashes websites by flooding them with huge volumes of data − and ran an online helpdesk for would-be hackers.

West Midlands Police said Chappell was accused of helping cyber-criminals target websites around the world, including a 2015 attack on NatWest that affected the bank’s online systems.

The force said in a statement confirming the charges: “Chappell allegedly attacked the websites of T-Mobile, EE, Vodafone, O2, BBC, BT, Amazon, Netflix, Virgin Media and the National Crime Agency.

“He has been charged with impairing the operation of computers under the Computer Misuse Act, plus encouraging or assisting an offence and money laundering crime proceeds together with an American national.”

The West Midlands force added that none of the Denial of Service attacks Chappell is alleged to have been behind led to the theft or loss of any customer data.

Chappell is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

In February 2016, it was announced that the U.K and Israel would extend co-operation in defending national infrastructure installations from cyber attack.