British police arrest 21-year-old man tied to VTech toy hack

VTech Holdings

15/12/2015 11:41

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - British police have arrested a 
21-year-old man in connection with the hacking of toymaker VTech 
Holdings  0303.HK , which exposed the data of 6.4 million 
children, in what experts said is the largest known theft of 
personal data targeting kids. 
    The South East Regional Organised Crime cyber unit said in a 
statement on Tuesday that it had a arrested a Bracknell man on 
suspicion of unauthorised access to computers and data. The 
town, located west of London, is home to numerous tech firms. 
    "We are still at the early stages of the investigation and 
there is still much work to be done," Craig Jones, head of the 
regional cyber crime unit said in a statement. A number of 
electronic items were seized by the police, it said.  
    No further details were provided. 
    VTech, a Hong Kong-based firm, disclosed the massive data 
breach early in December. It subsequently said 6.4 million 
children and 4.9 million adults had their personal information 
stolen in the attack. Nearly half of the victims live in Europe. 
    Regulators in Hong Kong, several U.S. states and the UK's 
Information Commissioner's Office subsequently said they were 
looking into the data breach, which also led to the theft of 
personal information on 5 million adults. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13P138    
    U.S. lawmakers have asked VTech to explain why it collects 
data on children, and how it secures that information. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N13R1FI 
 
 (Reporting By Eric Auchard; editing by Michael Holden) 
 ((eric.auchard@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1235; Reuters 
Messaging: eric.auchard.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: VTECH CYBERATTACK/ARREST