Companies 'failing to take out e-crime insurance'

Many businesses do not have a UK insurance policy to cover problems relating to e-crime, a new report states.

The research by KPMG reveals that take-up of cover against such risks is relatively low, despite the growing use of new technology increasing the threat of incidents occurring.

According to the study, 78 per cent of IT security professionals in Britain do not have an insurance policy in place or are unaware of whether or not their organisation has taken out products for e-crime legal costs.

However, 54 per cent of respondents to the survey stated that they had witnessed the threat level posed by hackers grow over the past year.

KPMG UK head of information security Malcolm Marshall declared: "Not many out there know or understand what insurance is available. Many are also sceptical about the effectiveness of current policies."

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office is responsible for regulation of the Data Protection Act and can impose fines of up to £500,000 for the worst breaches of legislation in this area.

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