This includes threats to publish intimate photographs online
Source : Office for National Statistics
" Due to its surge in popularity , and fast transaction cycles , online lending has become a prime target for cyber criminals ," said Vanita Pandey , vice president of strategy at ThreatMetrix . " Online lenders are under increasing pressure to adopt smarter authentication methods to accelerate genuine loans and prevent fraud ."
The most common crime in the UK spotted by the researchers was identity theft using data stolen in high-profile breaches , such as those against Yahoo and LinkedIn . ThreatMetrix said the majority of fraudulent attacks appear to have originated in developing countries including Brazil , Egypt , Ghana , Jordan , Nigeria and Macedonia .
As cyber crime becomes a regular challenge for businesses , separate research from Timico has revealed the scale of damage ransomware attacks can inflict on British companies .
A survey of 1,000 companies who have been victims of a ransomware attack , when cyber criminals lock all the files in a system and demand payment , revealed such breaches on average knock systems down for a full week , costing up to £ 2,000 a day in lost revenue .
Of the affected businesses , more than 250 paid over £ 5,000 for the safe return of their data . One third couldn ' t access their information for a month after the attack , while 15pc said it was never recoverable .
" These research findings clearly show that the speed of a ransomware attack is almost instant , while the effects on the organisation can be far reaching ," said Nabeil Samara , chief digital officer at Timico .
" It ’ s critical that all organisations , no matter what size , acknowledge the increasing and evolving threat of ransomware as attacks become ever more frequent and instill a policy , that is regularly updated , to educate staff on what to do if the business comes under attack ."