Two thirds of employers have experienced a serious incident
such as hacking, virus attack or credit card fraud in the last year according
to a survey on cybercrime.
The Cybercrime Survey 2001 shows hackers are responsible for
45 per cent of on-line business crime, former employees commit 13 per cent of
cybercrime, crime syndicates carry out 13 per cent of offences and current
employees 11 per cent.
The CBI commissioned survey finds that there is a need for a
co-ordinated approach to understanding and minimising the risks of cybercrime.
It calls for the Government to contribute to tackling and
prosecuting cross-border cybercrime and to extend the Computer Misuse Act 1990
to attacks that cause IT systems to fail.
The CBI also wants a UK centre for cybercrime complaints to
be set up which would provide a database on Internet fraud where complaints can
be channelled to the relevant investigating bodies.
Digby Jones, director general of the CBI, commented, “This
survey clearly shows that fears about potential financial losses and damage to
reputation from cybercrime are stalling the growth of e-business, especially
for business to consumer transactions. That will only be overcome when all
parties are reassured that adequate security is in place to protect them.
Achieving that means firms understanding what the threats are and the
Government keeping the law up to date and making sure it is properly enforced.”
The survey, which was based on 148 responses from organisations
of differing size and a variety of industry sectors, was compiled by Professor
Paul Barnes of Nottingham Trent University.
By Ben Willmott
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