News
Comment from Fujitsu: Crime rate to double due to spike in previously unrecorded online offences
July 2016 by Robert Norris, Director of Enterprise & Cyber Security in UK & Ireland at Fujitsu
The ONS has announced that in the last year there were more than 5.8 million incidents of cybercrime in England and Wales, enough to nearly double the crime rate. The official crime rate is set to include online offences going forward. The comment from Robert Norris, Director of Enterprise & Cyber Security in UK & Ireland at Fujitsu, on the importance of recognising the scale and significance of cyber-crime.
“The IT security space welcomes this news that the ONS will be including online crime moving forward, even if in the short term it means a steep increase. Daily there are news headlines reporting on the wealth of organisations that have fallen victim to a cyber-attack, something made worse by the fact that only 44% of companies have basic security processes in place.
“According to the ONS, cybercrime now makes up 40% of all recorded criminal incident, a statistic that once again highlights how important the battle against cybercrime has become. Through the inclusion of online crime in ONS crime reports, this further supports the requirement for all organisations to realise the severity and seriousness of cybercrime and the need for all to take up arms to fight it. Organisations need to put security at the top of the boardroom agenda to implement the right technology to protect themselves and their employees.
“The technical capabilities of cyber-criminals continue to outpace the UK’s ability to deal with cyber threats. If we are to counter this, we must collaborate, to share intelligence and counter the threats. If we don’t, we will never succeed in getting ahead and the ONS figure will continue to rise.”
