With Cybercrime on the Rise, Understand How to Protect your People and Defend your Data

Recently PwC released their Global Economic Crime Survey 2022: UK Edition (GECS), and the statistics paint a grim picture. UK businesses are now experiencing fraud and other economic crime at rates second only to those found in South Africa.

Almost 2/3 of UK respondents reported that they’ve fallen victim to some form of fraud in the last 24 months.

Interestingly, though the overall percentage of crime has risen, the amount of cybercrime has dropped slightly. However, the report does speculate that this may be a temporary trend, more due to a drop in detection rates than an actual drop in crime rates.
Framework changes over the last two years could be behind this statistical shift, as the swap to remote and hybrid working has disrupted processes, such as the routine checks that still provide one of the biggest sources of detection for cybercrime.

Despite the overall decrease in cybercrime, it is still the most common type of fraud reported and the highest priority issue. 22% of UK respondents agreed it has the potential to have the most disruptive impact on their business.

The PwC reports “The accelerated shift to online ways of doing business… creates new opportunities for cyber criminals.” They also mention that initial cybercrime is often a precursor to other types of crime. Over the past 2 years criminals have increasingly operated on a double-extortion model, where the victim is asked to pay to decrypt their system and pressured into payment when the perpetrators steal confidential or sensitive material and hold it hostage, threatening to leak or sell it on to other criminals if their demands aren’t met.

It goes without saying that the cost of being unprotected is high, but it’s potentially even more costly than it appears at first. Just shy of a quarter of UK respondents reported between $1 million and $5 million worth of losses due to fraud in the last 24 months.

The changed working environment may not be the sole reason for these enormous losses, however. A third of these respondents also reported that they do not have a dedicated risk management or compliance function in place, suggesting at least some of these losses could be counted as preventable with the right measures in place.

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Increased digital presence and reliance on online platforms opens up avenues for new types of cybercrimes and this constant evolution demonstrates just why it is vital to have security to match the ongoing threats.

Often the entry point for these threats come from the human element in the system. The GECS shows that almost a third of the crimes reported were internal issues. This issue has also been reported on by Proofpoint in their 2022 Cost of Insider Threats: Global Report, in partnership with Ponemon.

In that report it mentions that insider threats have risen 44% globally over the last 2 years. As they put it “Malicious, negligent and compromised users are a serious and growing risk.”

Working on educating your team properly and training them to help form that defence is pivotal, Proofpoint approaches cybersecurity with a modern view. They say “Your people are your new perimeter. Because attackers now see people as their target of choice, it's time to shift your strategy to defending your users—wherever and however they work. The right insights, the right technology and the right training make people your first and most effective line of defence.”

Find out more about how Proofpoint can help you strengthen your cybersecurity today: https://www.proofpoint.com/uk

[Sources]
https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/forensic-services/insights/global-economic-crime-survey-2022-uk-findings.html
https://www.proofpoint.com/uk/resources/threat-reports/cost-of-insider-threats