In December 2011, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) issued a report called Cybercrime: Protecting Against the Growing Threat. This global economic crime survey report is divided into two sections: 1) Cybercrime – its impact on organizations, their awareness of the crime and what they are doing to combat the risks; and 2) Fraud, the fraudster and the defrauded – the types of economic crime committed, how they are detected, who is committing them and what the repercussions are.
A total of 3,877 respondents from organizations in 78 countries responded to this sixth survey by highlighting the growing threat of cybercrime. Against a backdrop of data losses and theft, computer viruses and hacking, the survey looks at the significance and impact of this new type of economic crime and how it affects businesses worldwide. The key findings from the survey show that:
- Cybercrime now ranks as one of the top four economic crimes.
- Reputational damage resulting from cybercrime is the biggest fear for 40% of respondents.
- 40% of respondents don’t have the capability to detect and prevent cybercrime.
- 56% of respondents said the most serious fraud was an ‘inside job’.
- Senior Executives made up almost half of the respondents who didn’t know if their organization had suffered a fraud.
