Canadian police raid international 'hacker network'

Police in Canada have broken up a major international computer-hacking network.

The ring targeted unprotected personal computers around the world.

Police raided homes across Quebec arresting 16 people in what authorities describe as the largest hacking scam in Canadian history.

Police say the hackers worked together online to attack and gain control of as many as one million computers worldwide, specifically focusing on those that were not protected with anti-virus software or firewalls.

Once the network gained control, it used the computers to set up fake websites that asked people to click on them to provide personal information.

Police say most of the computers that were attacked were in the US, Poland and Brazil.

They say several government computers were also hacked, but they would not say in which country.

It is estimated that the ring took in as much as $45 million.