Brexit Uncertainty and Cyber Security

07 November 2016

If economic uncertainty following the Brexit vote created a nest for cyber-fraud, then Thursday’s High Court decision requiring Parliament approval to trigger Article 50 – and thus creating further uncertainty – only enhances the breeding ground.

According to forensic experts, fraudsters concoct scenarios which convince senior managers and owners of companies to hand over monies often in excess of £100k.

The immediate aftermath of June’s Brexit vote had the effect of driving more businesses to try non-traditional methods of raising capital. Particular sectors, such as shipping and off-shore haulage, appear to be ripe for targeting by fraudsters.

UK authorities are currently working on a number of fraud cases valued at more than £100 million each, and they were also carefully watching the healthcare sector where incidents of fraud are rising sharply. Entwined with this, was the recent state-sponsored hacking of medical data belonging to UK athletes which has caused a stir and led to internal soul-searching. This has coincided with the recent announcement by Chancellor Philip Hammond that £2bn will be invested into tackling cyber crime.

But that was before Thursday’s announcement.

Amongst competition that becomes increasingly desperate, it can become much easier for the fraudsters to simply blend in amongst genuine businesses and bide their time. This is nothing new.

It has been said by some experts, that transparent data sharing across the globe between businesses will help to cultivate a system of check to help create accurate patterns to be used by the authorities in tackling the fraud. But what is the commercial reality of this, when businesses are already scrabbling around in a state of Brexit-induced flux? 

While we watch and wait with anticipation at the political ponderings of the establishment, and where we go with Brexit, hard or soft, the fraudsters will continue to have the upper-hand.

Aaron Pearson – 04.11.16