e-crime cost British business billions

Hi-tech crime cost Britain’s business millions of pounds last year, according to the latest survey conducted by NOP for the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit.

Using the data, total estimated minimum cost of the impact of hi-tech crime on UK-based companies with more than 1,000 employees is £2.45 billion.

Of 200 companies surveyed, 89% said that they had experienced some form of hi-tech crime last year, with 90% suffering from unauthorised access to, or penetration of, their company systems, while 89% suffered theft of information or data.

97% of respondents said they had experienced virus attacks which had cost them £70,792,102, while financial fraud had cost 9% of them £68,165,920.

The survey also showed that companies are more concerned about the effect a security incident might have on their business, rather than the damage this might have on their reputation, with 69% of respondents citing this as a concern. Only 17% were worried about the effect of crime on their public image.