Nearly every week the headlines of national newspapers shout allegations about the latest credit card fraud, internet paedophile, or major corporations whose computers have been hacked. But what people may not realize is that the nature of computer crime is becoming even more sophisticated. In the same way that all of us use computers increasingly in our business and personal lives, so too are criminals using computers, not just to commit high-tech offences, but to plan, research and co-ordinate a wide variety of crimes. The role computers play in crime, and in particular the detection and prosecution of crime has never been as significant as it is today.

In a gripping true-life detective story, ex-hacker and now one of the UK's leading crime experts Neil Barrett guides us into a world where the seemingly innocuous computer screen can provide a window into the mind of even the most hardened criminal. Through some of his own high profile cases, Barrett shows us the cutting edge of modern crime. It is a dimly-lit world where hackers pit their wits, man to man, with the police experts and where the digital detective is the latest and best weapon in the police arsenal.