UK consumers worth billions to cybercriminals

But authorities and banks not doing enough to protect consumers

UK internet users have a collective worth of £361bn to online criminals according to a YouGov survey.

The research, carried out for security company Versign, found that of 1,942 surfers surveyed, the average person had funds of £10,077 that could be accessible to online fraudsters.

They could do this a number of ways according to Versign. Nearly two thirds of respondents access their bank account online, 58 per cent use online retailers and just under a third share personal information on public websites.

Yet more than half of those surveyed do not believe that institutions such as the Government and banks are doing enough to safeguard personal information online. It found that nearly half of UK users claim to have suffered from online fraud and nearly eight in ten people are worried that they could become victims of the fraudsters.

Jon Kerr, SSL manager at VeriSign UK, which commissioned the survey, said: " It is no surprise that online banks and retailers are some of the most popular targets for identity theft since so many personal details are required by users.

"As online transactions increase, we need to acknowledge the importance of technology and consumer behaviour in protecting personal details and monetary assets online."

He told Computeractive that the industry should make people more aware of the tools they can use that will help consumers stay safe. These include using extended validation security certificates. These turn the browser bar green in Internet Explorer 7 and amber in Firefox and help people recognise if a site is genuine and not a phishing site.