UK ID fraud cases jump a third as malicious insiders turn to cybercrime

By admin | March 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment 

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CIFASID fraud in the UK has increased by nearly a third (31.79 per cent) in 2009, according to a new report from CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service, as compromised identity details continue to be sold over the internet. The report points to an increase in gangs using collusive staff within organisations to steal personal data online for criminal gain. The CIFAS findings are gathered from its 265+ members across industries including banking, retail and telecoms.

Businesses need to be better protected against the dangers of the enemy within, particularly in industries such as finance and banking, where the value of the personal data held in online databases can be incredibly high. Our recent State of Enterprise Security report found that 40 per cent of businesses experienced a high number of internal, malicious attacks in 2009. In addition, a great deal of damage was also done unintentionally by staff, with 39 per cent of IT managers surveyed saying it’s a ‘high’ or ‘extremely high’ problem.

IT security was, for many years, focused on protecting against external threats and attacks. While those threats still remain, a more insidious threat – the malicious insider – has been steadily rising. The fact that cybercriminals are so well networked within UK businesses in order to bring about this kind of ID fraud, points to their increased professionalism and savvyness.

Symantec recommends that companies assess their policies and processes around employee access to sensitive data ensuring that they are appropriate for the employee’s position and are enforced and regularly reviewed. It advises that data loss prevention (DLP) solutions that offer protection at the endpoint, network and storage levels can also help.

Andy Ng, Data Loss Prevention Consulting Manager for EMEA

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