Cybercrime is flourishing
It is very clear from the figures released by the various fraud prevention agencies that there is a dramatic increase in cybercrime and real-time fraud. Should the losses continue to persist at the current growth rate, the financial services industry is in for torrid times!
Ultimately, it is the attitudes around fraud that need to change. The institutional practise of covering up fraud is unacceptable. The cost of fraud in the UK, from the Annual Fraud Indicator 2016 report is £193 billion. This is four times the previous estimate of £52 million in 2013. The expense is becoming so monumental that banks’ will have no other alternative but to pass the costs through to their clients.
I attended the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (WCIT) and Digital Policy Alliance (DPA) roundtable on cybercrime and real-time fraud with a cross section of the financial service industry, the police and government and the conclusion: prevention is not easy. A number of concurrent initiatives are required with an overriding need for urgency to combat this global threat. It also became abundantly clear that cybercrime could not and would not be stopped using a simple gatekeeper