GCHQ spies called in to probe the £17m Tesco bank fraud amid fears it was ordered by Russia
Spooks will hunt the 'root cause' behind the attack on 40,000 accounts, 20,000 of which had cash drained from them
GCHQ have been called in to probe the "unprecedented" £17m Tesco bank fraud amid fears it was ordered by Russia.
Spooks will hunt the "root cause" behind the attack on 40,000 accounts, 20,000 of which had cash drained from them.
Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority, confirmed the involvement of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) yesterday.
The unit is part of GCHQ and opened last month to tackle cyber crime.
Asked if GCHQ were involved by the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Bailey said: “The cybercrime experts, yes.” He added: "When I heard about this on Sunday I thought this looked unprecedented in the UK.
"It's too early to give a comprehensive account of what the root causes are.
"It requires further urgent analysis to understand the broader implications of this." Tesco Bank halted online transactions on Monday after money was stolen from 20,000 accounts in Britain's first cyber heist of its kind.
The devastating attack hit debit card customers across the UK sending shockwaves through the banking industry.
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The National Crime Agency (NCA) is leading the investigation.
GCHQ's roll will be to "investigate the root causes of the incident and factor in any lessons learned to future guidance and policy on cyber security".
The NCSC said in a statement: "We are already working with the NCA and Tesco Bank and others and are providing direct assistance to the company at their request, including on-site assistance.
"In the case of cyber related incidents, it can, on certain occasions, take a significant period of time to understand the incident given the technical complexities involved.
"So the story will emerge over time.
"Given the investigation thus far and the evidence at hand, the National Cyber Security Centre is unaware of any wider threat to the UK banking sector connected with this incident." Victim Mark Taylor had £2,500 had drained from his Tesco bank account blown by the criminals in Spain.
The computer analyst, 46, said: "The account should have been blocked at the first attempt of a withdrawal from overseas.
"For anyone to take that amount of money out in that way and Tesco not find it suspicious is just incredible. It’s as though there’s no security in place to stop it."
