Survey reveals extent of cyber-crime affecting construction businesses

Online crimes affected 15 per cent of construction business premises last year, new UK government statistics have revealed.

Figures contained in the Home Office’s latest commercial victimisation survey show that there were 77,000 incidents of online crime against construction premises last year, although only three per cent of cases were reported to the police.

Despite the fact there is a degree of overlap between different methods of online crime, 71 per cent of cases related to computer viruses, while 10 per cent involved hacking attacks. The survey also revealed that an estimated 2,000 businesses suffered a theft of money online.

Only three per cent of incidents of online crime were reported to the police, potentially reflecting a perception that the authorities are unable to help.

The survey also showed that smaller construction premises were experiencing similar rates of crime as larger premises, although unsurprisingly larger companies were spending significantly more on IT security.

Jim Burberry, partner and member of RSM’s Real Estate and Construction team in Scotland, said: “The data highlights that many incidences of online crimes against construction premises are largely going unreported.

“Cybercrime is a growing threat for the Scottish construction sector, which employs around 187,000 skilled workers, and the increased prevalence in attacks across the UK makes it a growing risk.

“Larger organisations seem to be implementing necessary measures, such as anti-virus or anti-spam software together with robust security update procedures to protect themselves, however smaller businesses are leaving themselves vulnerable. The risk is real for all construction business no matter the size and needs to be taken seriously to mitigate financial, operational and reputational risk.”

The 2016 commercial victimisation survey was carried out among 958 respondents from the construction sector including building, roofing, scaffolding, civil engineering, electrics and plumbing companies.