In an attempt to wipe out cyber-crime with a combination of the skills of the police, industry experts and academics, the UK Home Office has recently announced a new initiative called Cyber Crime Reduction Partnership (CCRP).

Announcing the partnership at BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, Security Minister James Brokenshire said that the National Cyber Security Programme's CCRP initiative - has been actually been in secret operation since the beginning of March - will help the police and other law enforcement agencies can stay one step ahead of the so-called cyber-criminals.

Brokenshire said that though the public's perception of cyber-crime largely has been that of a lone hacker mostly stealing money from bank accounts, the reality is that cyber-criminals are "organised and global"; with a new breed of criminals selling primarily helping gangs in exploiting the public by selling 'off-the-shelf' software.

Reiterating the government's commitment to tackle the threat of cyber-crime, Brokenshire said that although the government's efforts in this direction had already been quite successful, it intends reinforcing its attempts even further.

Expressing the confidence that the government's efforts will "bring these criminals to justice," Brokenshire said that "the creation of the National Cyber Crime Unit within the National Crime Agency and innovations such as the new CCRP" will help the government deal with the cyber-crime threat in an effective manner.