Cybercrime prevalence and impact in the UK

Relatively little is known about the scale and cost of cybercrime in the UK, as current industry and academic efforts have produced largely unreliable estimates, often focusing primarily on large businesses. To address this, the authors developed one of the first customer surveys centred on the impact and prevalence of cybercrime to the average UK citizen. Just under one fifth of individuals surveyed had been victims of online crime, and of these, 6% reported being victimised more than once. Surprisingly, 2.3% reported losses in excess of £10,000 from online crime. We discuss the methodology used, its advantages, limitations, and main findings. We also reflect on the media coverage, and propose some cautionary notes for generalising and interpreting results. We additionally offer future research directions.