March 27, 2012 - Cybercrime is a growing threat to financial services firms and is now the second most common type of economic crime the industry faces, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.

Cyber attacks accounted for 38% of all economic crime incidents that finance companies experienced in 2011, according to the poll of 878 industry respondents from 56 countries, behind only asset misappropriation.

Around half of respondents think that the threat of cybercrime has increased in the last year while, unsurprisingly, IT is considered the department presenting the biggest risk, cited by 63% of those asked.

Asked about what concerns them about the fallout of cybercrime, 54% say the reputational damage, 49% the loss of personal identifiable information, only 39% the actual financial losses and 32% regulatory issues.

Despite the risks, 29% of respondents say that their company offers no cybersecurity-related training, although this compares well to other industries covered by PwC.

Andrew Clark, forensic services partner, PwC, says: "It appears that some FS organisations are complacent about the risks that cybercrime poses, in spite of serious concerns about potential damage arising from cyber threats."