Top tech stats: UK cybercrime, consumer attitudes to IoT and much more
Welcome to your round up of some of the past week’s most interesting surveys, statistics and reports relevant to those involved in the UK tech industry.
It’s bad news for Europe this week – as we look at global rankings of cybercrime – but good news for IoT startups, as we examine consumer attitudes toward online advertising within their own homes.
Europe overtakes US as global cybercrime capital
Data from US-based security technology company ThreatMetrix showed that 50% more cyberattacks originated from Europe than any other global region over the previous 90 days.
The figures pointed to the UK and Netherlands in particular as cybercrime hubs, with a huge growth in online fraud rings.
ThreatMatrix, which has offices in London, identified 17 million cyberattacks across the UK in 90 days between January and March in 2017, a 30% increase on the same period in 2017. The Netherlands had the highest growth in attacks from 2016, at 50%.
Safeguarding personal information
With the UK now a hub of cybercrime, according to ThreatMatrix, it is not surprising that Brits are growing increasingly wary.
Research from US credit agency Equifax shows that 60% of British customers will only feel secure online with at least three security steps guarding access to their personal information.
The online survey, conducted by YouGov, also found that just over a fifth of the British population (21%) has had a social media or email account account, with 20% responding by completely closing their account.
When asked which personal information British customers are most worried about having stolen, bank details predictably topped the list (81%), followed by debit card pin number (72%), passport (60%), and driver’s licence (46%).
Turnover locked in late payments
£266bn of the annual turnover of UK SMEs – equivalent to 15% – is locked in late invoice payments, new research shows.
Research from British FinTech firm Crossflow Payments also suggested that 3.4 million jobs could be created if the late payment problem was eliminated, with two-thirds (63%) of SMEs saying they would hire up to five new staff members if their working capital improved.
One in ten SMEs in the UK has seen the problem worsen since last year’s EU referendum, the survey conducted by YouGov showed.
Lack of awareness around GDPR
A quarter of European companies are unprepared for the arrival of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation in May 2018, research released this week shows, which will broaden European privacy rights and increase punishment fines by millions of euros.
The study by IDC Research showed 25% of the 700 European companies surveyed saying they were totally unaware of GDPR, with more than half (52%) unsure of the impact for their organisation.
Unruly’s ‘Future Home’ study
In good news for UK startups innovating in the Internet of Things (IoT) sector, which is predicted to add £1.37 trillion to the global market by 2019, figures released this week show that 84% of UK consumers would be “open” to the idea of corporate brands beaming adverts directly into their own homes.
The Future Home Study, conducted by advertising tech company Unruly, also shows that 67% of Brits think an internet-connected home will make their lives happier, safer, or healthier, and just under two-thirds (60%) think artificial intelligence will be an “essential part of the future”.
Consumers did, however, show some reluctance to allow firms to advertise in their homes, with ‘invasion of privacy’ pointed to as the most annoying thing a brand could do inside a consumer’s home.
Unruly’s study comes as the firm opens a new 2,000-sq ft project at its London HQ, designed to showcase IoT gadgets. The exhibit will “show what the home of 2020 will see, hear, smell, taste, and feel like,” Unruly says.
