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“The fact that the rate of fraudulent current account applications has more than doubled over the last year should come as no surprise – criminals seek money, consumers have it, and personal details are the online route to it. Cyber criminals are entrepreneurial, well-resourced and technically able, and as such everyone should be doing more to prevent theft. According to research from Fujitsu, only 9% of consumers believe British organisations are doing enough to protect their data.

“Because of this, it’s vital both consumers and organisations take a proactive approach when it comes to security. Organisations need to focus on the integration of threat intelligence and other information sources to provide the context necessary to deal with today’s advanced cyber threats. There must also be a clear and well-rehearsed crisis management plan for a breach, addressing internal and external communication. As well as this, consumers need to ensure they use different passwords for different applications and are aware of the security risks when using payment information.

“As the sophistication and regularity of security attacks continue to increase, it has never been more important for both consumers and organisations to protect their data appropriately. This is particularly important within the financial services sector, due to the amount of personal data and highly confidential information that is at risk of falling into the wrong hands.”