Irish Businesses Hit with Cyber-Crime as Top Economic Crime

Fresh study by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) reveals that crimes hitting businesses are increasing. It further reveals that Irish businesses are hit with cyber-crime the most, accounting for twofold of the global mean.

PwC's report titled "Irish Economic Crime and Fraud" discovers that according to nearly 50% of the total seventy seven firms questioned during the survey, they encountered one crime or the other during 2016-17 when the survey was last conducted, accounting for an increase from 34% during 2016. Now, there's heightening of cyber-crimes' impact to the extent of expenses incurred in handling their consequences.

About 70% of the impacted respondents stated they'd expended the same amount as the expense of carrying out the crime, sometimes even greater, in dealing with the fall-out as well as execution of subsequent probes.

Further, sixty six percent of the firms questioned said the aggregate expense for carrying out the severest offence against them happened to be less than EUR 810,000. Nevertheless, according to every one respondent out of ten, they'd gotten defrauded of over EUR 4m. Another twenty percent stated the expense of offence aimed at them couldn't be estimated. Irishtimes.com posted this, June 18, 2018.

PwC had conducted a worldwide poll involving 7,200 respondents across 123 nations. The study of Irish businesses as part of it included 77 companies representing every important sector and industry.

As per the survey, cyber-crime constituted an economic crime of highest order in Ireland which superseded asset misappropriation like never before. Asset misappropriation currently amounts to 29% of the total economic offences launched on companies, whilst business misconduct amounts to 16% and consumer fraud 42%.

Phishing, involving fake e-mails towards enticing unwitting recipients into disclosing sensitive information to ease theft of money by criminals accounted for the most notable method in targeted cyber-assaults, with malware following within 56% of the instances.

And with transaction values rising exceedingly online from every year to the next, fraudsters are shifting onto fresh methods of diverting cash while gaining success too. As it stands, cyber-crime has proved a big business being tech-enabled, pervasive, opportunistic and innovative - quite same as the greatest competitor unknown to many.

» SPAMfighter News - 6/25/2018