UK Crime Rate Rises Sharply as Cybercrime is Included

ONS: Crime Survey for England and Wales Field Trial. Field trial conducted between May and August 2015

The crime rate for England and Wales has doubled to more than 11.6m offences, according to the latest figures. The sharp rise in the headline figures is due to the inclusion of an estimated 5.1m online fraud incidents and 2.5m cybercrime offences for the first time.

Increase brought about by inclusion of new offences masks 8% fall in underlying rate in survey of people’s experience of crime. Separate police-recorded crime figures show a 5% increase in crime, including a 25% rise in violence against the person.

The crime survey for England and Wales, which is based on people’s experience of crime, shows that the underlying crime rate, excluding cybercrime, continued to fall, by 8% to an estimated 6.5m offences in the 12 months to June.
 
Cyber-attack warning after millions stolen from UK bank accounts

Separate police-recorded figures show a 5% increase in crime, including a 25% increase in violence against the person. Sexual offences including rape rose by 41% over the past year, which police say is indicative of a greater willingness of victims to report such crimes. The growth in sexual offences recorded by the police includes an increase of 10,000 in reported rapes and a 20,000 rise in reports of other sexual offences.

Statisticians said it reflects a change in police attitudes in the past 12 months, with officers now talking about “reports of rape” and no longer referring to “allegations of rape”. But they also point to crime survey evidence that shows the proportion of adults who report being a victim of sexual assault remains under 2%.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the publication of an official estimate of fraud and cybercrime alongside the crime survey of England and Wales follows growing concern that the rise in cybercrime “makes up” for the long-term fall in crime from a peak of 19m offences in 1995 to 6.5m offences by June.
The ONS head of crime, John Flatley, said: “It has been argued that crime has not actually fallen but changed, moving to newer forms of crime not captured by the survey. Clearly some crime has moved online but this should be seen in the context of the long-term fall in traditional crime.”

The first estimate shows that there were up to 5.1m incidents of online fraud involving 3.8 million victims in the past 12 months. Just over half involved some initial financial loss to the victims and more than 62% were compensated in full.

The addition of the online fraud offences to the crime survey figure of 6.5m offences leads to a headline figure of 11.6m estimated criminal incidents, compared with the 7m estimate for the year to June 2014.

An ONS field trial also estimated that there were 2.5m “computer misuse” incidents, where a victim’s computer is infected by a virus.

The statisticians said they had an open mind on whether to include these within the headline crime rate, as often such attacks are blocked by anti-virus protection and not experienced as a crime by the victim. But they do say that phishing and other attacks are offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and could be included.

The inclusion of these 2.5m cybercrime incidents brings the headline total in the official estimates to 14.1m, double the 7m estimated crimes in the year to June 2014.


Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “It is remarkable that at a time when cybercrime is soaring and fraudsters are finding ever more inventive ways to get access to our personal details, our prime minister and his home secretary are seriously considering weakening encryption that allows our banks to keep our information secure.”
Guardian: http://bit.ly/1VVH7Zk

ONS: http://bit.ly/1lhkdA8

 

« De-escalation Is The Answer To Growing Cyber Tension
Google's New AI System is 'Machine Learning' Breakthrough »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

Alvacomm

Alvacomm

Alvacomm offers holistic VIP cybersecurity services, providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Our solutions include risk assessment, threat detection, incident response.

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD offers expert-led cybersecurity training to help organisations safeguard their operations and data.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

FDM Group

FDM Group

FDM Group is an international Professional services company with a focus on IT. Services offered include Software Testing, and Information Security with a focus on operational security and compliance.

Graphus

Graphus

Graphus provides a simple, powerful, automated solution that eliminates 99% of social engineering and spear phishing attacks against G Suite business Gmail users.

European Cyber Security Conference

European Cyber Security Conference

EU Cyber Security Conference will debate what Europe’s response to evolving threats in a dynamic global risk landscape should look like and what the next steps for all actors of the ecosystem.

Protocol Labs

Protocol Labs

Protocol Labs is a research, development, and deployment institution for improving Internet technology.

Argo Group

Argo Group

Argo is an international underwriter of specialty insurance. Argo Cyber offers a full spectrum of coverage solutions related to professional and technology services.

QNu Labs

QNu Labs

QNu Labs’s quantum-safe cryptography products and solutions assure unconditional security of critical data on the internet and cloud across all industry verticals, globally.

L3Harris Technologies

L3Harris Technologies

L3Harris Technologies is a global aerospace and defense technology innovator, delivering solutions to meet mission-critical needs across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains.

Constella Intelligence

Constella Intelligence

Constella Intelligence provides digital risk protection services to quickly and efficiently disrupt cyber attacks and data breaches before they occur.

Bedrock Systems

Bedrock Systems

BedRock Systems is on a mission to deliver a trusted computing base from edge to cloud, where safety and security isn’t just a perception, it’s a formally proven reality.

HolistiCyber

HolistiCyber

HolistiCyber provide state-of-the art consulting, services, and solutions to help proactively and holistically defend against a new era of constantly evolving cyber threats.

PCS Security (PCSS)

PCS Security (PCSS)

PCS Security provides secure, reliable and state-of-the-art security solutions to help our customers address their security concerns.

Nullify

Nullify

Nullify is your automated security sentry that continuously finds and fixes security issues across your codebase.

Secuvy

Secuvy

Secuvy leads in data security, privacy, compliance, and governance, offering a unified platform for proactive data discovery, management, protection, and enhanced data value.

Bridgenet Solutions

Bridgenet Solutions

Bridgenet specialises as a top-notch Information and Technology Solutions Provider for businesses.

EVVO LABS

EVVO LABS

EVVO Labs empower your business with the latest IT capabilities to get you ahead of your competitors. We are experts at converging technologies to build your digital transformation.

Grey Market Labs

Grey Market Labs

Grey Market Labs is a special place. It is a data privacy and security skunkworks.