Over one in ten of UK internet users have experienced fraud in the past 12 months because they are failing to take proper precautions to protect themselves.

It comes at a considerable cost to each individual too, amounting to an average per head of £875 – and as the dramatic growth in online shopping continues, so the size of the loss is likely to keep pace.

These are the findings of a recent survey commissioned by Get Safe Online*, an online security initiative that’s part-funded by the UK Government. It examined both the many different types of e-crime that consumers can fall victim to and their attitudes to the threat. Perhaps most disturbing is that fact that fewer than half of the people surveyed (48%) felt that they should take personal responsibility for their own online safety. Instead they are looking to their banks, their Internet Service Providers or the organisations they are buying from to do it for them.

THE COSTS MOUNT FOR BUSINESS

The online fraud experiences of small UK businesses in recent years are even worse. A second survey by Get Safe Online** that focused on companies with up to nine employees, found that 44% had suffered from some form of cyber crime in the past two years, ranging from internet scams and identity fraud to the theft of data assets. The report cites an average cost per business of £1540: a figure that adds up to £750 million if extrapolated across all UK businesses of the same size. But here the risks can go far beyond the financial with the fraud and its consequences having the potential to put the entire organisation and its future in jeopardy.

While the perpetrators of online fraud are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to hit their victims, often the IT function of a smaller business is in the hands of an owner or manager without expert knowledge or resources to call on. There could be significant opportunities for Communications Providers who are able to offer essential support and cost-effective online security solutions, starting with the advantage of being a known and trusted supplier.

* Source: "Internet Safety: the State of the Nation": a report by Get Safe Online (March 2007).    

** Source: Survey of small UK businesses by Get Safe Online (June 2007).

READ BETWEEN THE LINES

The BT Wholesale portfolio offers an evolving range of products and services to help you provide greater reassurance and protection to customers at your own website and at your call centres, as well as online security solutions for your business customers.

In the fight against identity fraud one key weapon can be URU (‘You Are You’). This is an automated online identity verification service that can be embedded behind an existing online registration or application system to check the validity of each customer’s identity, age and address.

BT Wholesale is also currently trialling a voice biometrics solution that has the potential to alert contact centre agents when callers attempt to claim another person’s identity. Look out for more information on this in due course.

For businesses that are looking for cost-effective, all-round protection for their office-based or home-based employees, your solution could be Fortinet from BT Wholesale’s Equipment portfolio. Available to order online for delivery within 24 hours, this fully managed ‘solution in a box’ offers a firewall, anti-virus and anti-spam protection, intrusion detection and prevention. For more complex requirements BT Wholesale also offer a range of security solutions from the Cisco and Juniper Netscreen ranges.  


Get Safe Online advice for consumers and small businesses from the national internet security awareness campaign that is jointly funded by the UK Government and corporate sponsors in technology, retailing and finance.
 
Read more about URU in the A to Z on btwholesale.com 
 
Read more about BT Wholesale’s Connectivity and Data/Equipment proposition.