Scottish firms lose more than £20m to online crime
Businesses in Scotland lost more than £20 million to online crime in the year to March, new data has found.
The research was carried out by internet security awareness initiative Get Safe Online and the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre, Action Fraud.
Specific offences include corporate employee fraud, where employees or ex-employees obtain property or compensation illegally, with £762,271 lost by businesses north of the Border during the year.
Tony Neate, chief executive of Get Safe Online, said the data highlighted “the enormous, and quite frankly daunting impact online crime can have on a business”.
He added: “To tackle this issue head-on, businesses need to review their own skills and knowledge, determine if they need to seek help from outside, and then create measures to prevent, detect and respond to potential security threats.”