Two thirds of UK employees are unaware of IT security threats

Economic crime is still rising according to the findings from PwC’s latest global economic crime survey (GECS). 51% of the UK respondents reported at least one instance of economic crime in the last 12 months, compared with the global figure of 34%. 

The third most common type of economic crime in the UK is Cybercrime but over two thirds of UK employees are unaware of IT security threats that could affect them, a survey by security firm Kaspersky Lab has revealed.

Cybercrime has been thought of as an external threat, from outside the organisation and from other countries, but now organisations are now recognising the risk of cybercrime coming from inside, with a third finding their own employees were responsible for the largest frauds.

And the cost of fraud is on the rise, in two years the UK alone the number of organisations losing between $100,000 and $5 million has risen by 11%. The number of organisations reporting losses over $5 million has risen by 3%.

Pay and recruitment freezes, under-staffing and increased workloads are thought to be reason enough for some cases of internal fraud. The GECS report found that in the UK the most likely offenders for internal fraud were male, aged between 31 and 40, educated to below degree level and having worked for three to five years in the organisation.

Tony Parton, forensics partner, PwC commented: 

“There’s a significant 18% rise in the proportion of internal frauds carried out in the UK by middle management since we first reported a ‘cappuccino crime wave’ in 2009. With two-thirds now committed by middle management, it’s surprising that our survey shows only one-third of senior executives were aware of an economic crime being reported in their organisations.”

The report also found that 84% of those who identified an economic crime had carried out a fraud risk assessment. Kaspersky recommends IT managers should educate all staff and follow these three steps: