The UK is the most attacked country in the world and it is also the second highest originator of cybercrime attacks.
The United States is the only country to pip the UK to the unwanted accolade of being the highest originator of cybercrime attacks.
Attacks aimed at the UK are coming from Nigeria, Germany, the USA and Mexico predominantly according to data released by ThreatMetrix.
The company analysed three billion transactions during a three month period, detecting and stopping more than 75 million cybercrime attacks in real time across the globe. It identifies that online commerce is being particularly targeted.
Fraudulent attacks rose 20% in this area in the second quarter of the year, meaning that it reached 36 million fraud attempts that were stopped. If these hadn’t been stopped, the company estimates that it could have resulted in losses of as much as £2 billion.
In this sector, account creation fraud proved to be the highest risk, with nearly 7% of transactions monitored being blocked. Account login was a lower risk at 3%, however, as there are many more times that login transactions are processes, this actually represent a significant hijacking risk.
Financial institutions are also a big target, particularly those that are focused on online lending. Attacks increased that were focused on new account originations and payment disbursements.
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Dr Stephen Moody, Solutions Director, ThreatMetrix EMEA, said: "Online lending is a hotbed for fraud because it is a less secure channel designed for the unbanked and underbanked population an attractive target for attackers."
"The more businesses and consumers turn to the digital space to store and manage their financial information, the more opportunity for fraudsters — ensuring digital identities are effectively protected should be high priority for everyone."
With mobile now making up one-third of all transactions that are analysed by the firm, it is the biggest emerging opportunity and risk for businesses and financial institutions.
