E-fraud doubles in one year

Internet-based fraud has almost doubled in the UK, in the past year, according to commercial fraud litigation specialists Philippsohn Crawfords Berwald (PCB).

"The whole business is very serious indeed," said Steven Philippsohn, senior litigation partner at PCB.

The most serious threat is posed by internal saboteurs - most commonly a disgruntled employee who steals information from a PC or Web site. "It's the easiest thing in the world to take this information to a competitor and just delete it from the system," said Philippsohn.

He said that in the past six months there has been a huge increase in the amount of confidential information being stolen or tampered with.

Many companies are failing to protect their data, believing that because it is stored digitally it is somehow more "safe" than a paper copy. "Companies need to treat their Web sites like an office and actually lock them up. But they don't - they literally leave the door wide open," said Philippsohn.

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