Computer crimes (AKA cyber risks) are a major concern in China. It’s got to the point where even official noises from the Chinese authorities (who are not known for their transparency on issues such as this) claims that cyber crime is a growing threat and is being taken extremely seriously
“Online fraud and other forms of crimes which encroach on the property of others are increasing rapidly,” said the Chinese government white paper The Internet in China.
“Crimes such as producing and spreading computer viruses, and computer and network hacking are increasing.” But China is not the only country with a serious internet security problem.
A recent report from Detica, commissioned by the UK government, estimated that cyber crime costs the UK economy £27bn a year. The lion’s share of this figure (£21bn) is stolen from the private sector.
It’s not surprising that recent research by StrategicRISK, which involved in-depth interviews with 30 leading European risk managers, highlighted cybercrime as one of the interviewees’ biggest concerns.
Those companies that rely on the internet to do business are most vulnerable to cyberattacks by criminals, competitors or disenchanted employees.
Intellectual property the or industrial espionage – which Detica says costs UK businesses £9bn a year is also a big worry for risk managers.
“We put a great deal of effort into security, training and communication about information leaks, because much of the value of our business is tied up in knowledge – and it’s not the kind of knowledge you can put patents or copyrights on,” one risk manager told StrategicRISK.
Risk managers recognise that data the is not purely an IT issue. It’s clearly necessary to monitor the people handling the information, including those joining and leaving the organisation.
But several risk managers admit that their security systems are not up to scratch.
As one risk manager puts it: “The biggest possible source of leakage of information walks out of your offi ces and factories every day – it’s our people.”
