Following a joint investigation between the UK Border Agency and Italian police, a Turin based gang suspected of helping dozens of Albanian migrants attempt to reach the UK illegally has been dismantled. The gang were charging their clients up to 5,000 Euros(£4,300) for a package of falsified Italian identity documents and flight tickets. It is believed these would be used to board planes to Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester from regional airports in Italy, with the eventual intention of working illegally in the UK. Working with the Italian authorities, UK Border Agency officers...

The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) announces the regional winners of this year’s Annual Security Personnel Awards. The awards are now in their fifteenth year, and serve to recognise the hard work of high calibre professionals working within the security industry across five different categories: Best Team, Outstanding Act, Service to the Customer, Best Newcomer and Best Use of Technology. “It is fantastic to see the high level of achievements within the security year in, year out,” commented Trevor Elliott, Director of Manpower and Membership Services at the BSIA. “Th...

With changes to industry regulation and licensing set to impact the UK’s private industry later this year, the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has organised an exclusive breakfast briefing to explore the impact of a changing regulatory regime. Free to attend and open to both members and non-members of the Association, the breakfast briefing will feature presentations and discussions hosted by key industry experts and representatives of both the BSIA and the Security Regulation Alliance, who have been involved in the development of a new regulatory regime from the outset. Taking...

Banknote Watch, the crime reduction partnership aimed at reducing the profits of cash-in-transit and ATM crime, has appointed a new Chairman following a lengthy selection process. Richard Childs QPM BSc FSyI joined Banknote Watch at the end of 2012, bringing with him a wealth of experience from both public and private sectors. Currently Managing Director of ACPO CPI – which supports Secured by Design - he is also the ACPO lead for security systems and is a past member of the Prison Service Pay Review Body. Using this experience, Richard intends to build closer partnerships with the Polic...

The British Security Industry Association has produced a guide for end-users and security buyers, to help them understand the proposed changes to the licensing and regulatory regime of the UK’s private security industry, which are set to impact all companies that use private security personnel. From 2013 onwards, there will be a gradual change in the way private security companies and individual officers operating in the UK are licensed and regulated, a function undertaken by the Security Industry Authority (SIA). These changes will be implemented over time, and will change the requiremen...

Spanish Police, working closely with the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, have dismantled the largest and most complex cybercrime network dedicated to spreading police ransomware. It is estimated that the criminals affected tens of thousands of computers worldwide, bringing in profits in excess of one million euros per year. Operation Ransom resulted in 11 arrests – the first was a 27-year-old Russian, responsible for the creation, development and international distribution of the various versions of the malware. He was arrested in the United Arab Emirates and is currently awa...

The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has today announced a new partnership with Skills for Security, in a landmark move that brings the sector skills body firmly back within the remit of the industry. The move, approved by board members of both organisations, will see Skills for Security become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BSIA, reversing the Association’s divergence from its former training body, the Security Industry Training Organisation (SITO), which facilitated the formation of Skills for Security in 2006. Skills for Security will retain its own legal identity and, as s...

G4S, the international secure outsourcing group, has announced today that it has agreed a financial settlement with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (“LOCOG”) in respect of the provision of the security workforce for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games (“the Games”). The terms of the settlement mean that G4S will incur an overall loss on the contract of approximately £70 million. The group has also incurred additional costs of approximately £11 million, relating to charitable donations and external fees and a further £7 million ...

Law enforcement authorities in Germany and Spain, supported by Europol, have successfully broken up an international cannabis-trafficking network based in Almería, Spain. On the afternoon of 6 February, Spanish National Police(Organised Crime and Drug Trafficking Central Unit (UDYCO)) investigators arrested five key suspects, who were caught red-handed after loading a German-registered trailer truck with 88 bundles of hashish, bound for northern Europe. The bundles of cannabis seized ranged in weight from 25–30 kgs each, totalling around 2.6 tonnes. The estimated price of the seized drug...

Members of the British Security Industry Association's Export Council, who exhibited at the recent Intersec 2013 exhibition in Dubai, are reporting a high level of visitor interest in the wide range of innovative UK security solutions, from integrated systems to access control, CCTV, perimeter protection, intruder alarm and power supply technology, on display during this year's show. The positive experience of member companies at Intersec 2013 was underlined by the results of a post-show survey, conducted by the BSIA's Export Council, which found that, of those questioned, 80% either saw...