E-crime poses a real threat to UK businesses

Many businesses are not taking precautions to protect themselves against e-crimes, it has emerged.

Companies are not taking the precautions needed to protect themselves against e-crime, a report has found, which may lead to more work for IT contractors.

KPMG found that 41 per cent of businesses believe their lack of awareness of e-crime makes them more vulnerable to attacks, while 78 per cent do not have the necessary insurance in place.

More than half (54 per cent) of UK IT security professionals said they had witnessed a rise in the threat level over the course of the past 12 months.

Malcolm Marshall, UK head of information security at KPMG, said: "Businesses should be acutely aware of e-crime risks after various recent high-profile cyber-attacks against big organisations."

Businesses were also found to recognise that new activities they were engaged in - such as cloud computing and outsourcing - heightened their security risk.

Mr Marshall highlighted that a proper risk assessment must be carried out to avoid the problems outweighing the benefits.