tinsleyNET IT Services Consultant

Buyer Beware! You can't escape from the adverts. The American Thanksgiving sales day has been ported over into the UK as a promise of great deals for Christmas shoppers, many taking to online outlets to beat the queues. Retailers such as Amazon, John Lewis and Argos are predicting a record breaking weekend for their online sales. But as with any event that gets users eager to snap up deals online, the criminals are lurking just around the corner ready to take exploit any unsuspecting shoppers.

UK Cybercrime is increasing  A recent report on Internet Security and cybercrime has shown that UK users are among the most targeted in the world, with both home users and businesses being attacked daily, and over half a billion personal records stolen in 2015.

Cybercrime is becoming big business  The total number of individuals in the UK who have been the target of cybercrime leapt in 2015, with nearly 44% of consumers in the UK who have now reported cybercrime. 2015 was responsible for 22% of those, with the average cost to the user at £1300. Of those who reported cybercrime, shockingly nearly half said they had not taken additional precautions while on the internet, such as changing passwords.