CCTV captures thief infecting firm with malware

South Australian Police are hunting a male who broke into a recruitment firm and spent three hours installing remote access software on one of its computers.

The incident was captured on closed-circuit television.

Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Blundell from the commercial and electronic crime branch told iTnews that the computer was seized by Police.

They performed a forensics analysis and identified "software which would have enabled remote access" that had been allegedly installed by the suspect.

He said the CCTV footage showed the suspect "basically open a few doors in other offices" before sitting down at the computer and "working away for a couple of hours."

The suspect also allegedly stole a "small amount of cash" and equipment.

Staff arriving the following day discovered the break-in and reviewed CCTV footage before alerting Police.

Blundell said that Crime Stoppers had received "some information" after excerpts of the footage were aired in the state earlier this week.

The motive remained unclear.

"If the aim was to just knock off a database he could have done that [quickly] with storage media," Blundell speculated.

But the remote access software - if it had gone undetected - may have allowed the suspect to "really trawl through things" on the computer and the firm's network, according to Blundell.

A spokesman for the recruitment firm has been contacted for comment.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.