The Office of National Statistics estimates that in 2015, there
were 2.46 million cyber incidents and 2.11 million victims of cyber
crime in the UK. Although there are not similar statistics
available for the Isle of Man, the UK statistics are a strong
indication of the prevalence of this type of crime and underpin why
the mitigation of cyber crime should be the focus of boards and
risk managers in Isle of Man businesses.
In its Cyber Crime Assessment 2016, the UK's National Crime
Agency (the "NCA") says that a
cyber attack which threatens the existence of one or more major UK
businesses is a "realistic possibility". Interestingly,
the report says that the most advanced and serious cyber crime
threat is the direct or indirect result of activity by only a few
hundred international cyber criminals, typically operating in
organised groups. These criminals have, according to the NCA,
generally relatively low technical capability but their attacks are
increasingly enabled
