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UK police cuff suspect over VTech toy hack

Not playing games

An unnamed UK man has been arrested on suspicion of hacking toymaker VTech.

Officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) said they'd arrested a 21-year-old in Bracknell, Berkshire as part of an investigation of the hacking of applications belonging to VTech.

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of offences covered by the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the UK’s main computer hacking statute. A number of electronic items were seized during the arrest and held for further computer forensics examination.

In a statement, Craig Jones, head of the Cyber Crime Unit at SEROCU, said: “We are still at the early stages of the investigation and there is still much work to be done. We will continue to work closely with our partners to identify those who commit offences and hold them to account."

Jones advised businesses and consumers to follow cyber-security advice available on UK government-backed sites such as cyberstreetwise.com and getsafeonline.org.

VTech servers holding customer information were breached last month during a high-profile hack. The compromise occurred on servers that maintained VTech's Learning Lodge app, which allows registered users to download apps and games onto devices from an online store.

In a statement, VTech admitted that it had failed to secure personal information on 4.8 million parents and 6.37 million children – including 1.2 million users of its KidConnect messaging service. ®

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