Ireland Cybercrime Activity Growing

According to the PwC 2020 Irish Economic Crime Survey, the level of cybercrime activity in Ireland is exhibiting robust growth with fraud and economic crime impacting companies significantly.  Over half (51%) of Irish companies experienced fraud in the past two years and 61% experienced two or more incidents in the two-year period. Cybercrime (69%) is by far the most prevalent type of fraud committed in Ireland and is three times more disruptive than the global norm.

The survey shows cybercrime, customer fraud and accounting fraud are the three most disruptive types of fraud across the sectors.  Over one in ten Irish companies (13%) reported losing more than €4 million while 18% said that the cost of the fraud was inestimable. Some 11% reported remediation spending of over €0.8 million after an incident that encompassed improving internal controls, conducting training and introducing new technologies. The study found that 62% of companies plan to increase the resources used to combat fraud in the next two years.

Significantly, the PWC survey found that technology continues to be underused in the battle against fraud with Ireland lagging global peers with less than 20% of Irish businesses citing a strong ability to upgrade their technology to combat fraud over the last two years, with many citing cost factors for failing to invest.  The report highlights the opportunity for increased adoption of disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solutions.
 
The report is very timely as the significant rise in remote working across enterprises during 2020 is anticipated to result in increased phishing attempts since business security defenses may have become weakened.  It underscores the importance of continued investment and resources in cybersecurity across Ireland’s digital economy to mitigate cyber-risk and ensure the country is cyber-resilient at a national level.

The growing threat of cyber-attacks will drive higher spending on cybersecurity solutions and services across all major market segments; large corporations, SMEs and public-sector organizations, including Irish government departments.    U.S. cybersecurity vendors are playing a leading role in the Irish market and Irish distributors, systems integrators and value-added resellers (VARs) are continually seeking to identify and source the latest innovative cybersecurity solutions from the United States.

For more information contact office.dublin@trade.gov.