Firms urge Gov to do more on cybercrime

Companies feel "virtually under siege"

3 November 2008 14:46 GMT / By Katie Scott

Recent research has revealed that UK businesses have little faith in the government to protect them from rising cybercrime.

Nearly 60% of those quizzed by the Corporate IT Forum said that they didn't think the police were equipped to properly deal with cybercrime.

As a result of this lack of faith, only 4% of the respondents said they bothered to report every incident of online crime.

The survey took in the 3500 members of the CIT Forum, which claims to represent technology managers at the UK's largest firms.

Of these, echoing reports on both sides of the Atlantic, 69% reported seeing increases in the amount of high-tech crime.

The team behind the survey said: "It has ... become too easy and too risk-free for criminals to become involved in cyber crime".

David Roberts, head of the Corporate IT Forum, added: "IT chiefs in UK PLCs don't think the government appreciates the scale of the cyber crime threat, the seriousness of the threat or how much it's costing".

"Business confidence in the government's ability to help them fight cyber crime is at rock-bottom", Roberts concluded.

Full tags

Biz, Software, Online, Cybercrime