Cyber Crime Ravages Nearly Four in 10 Global Financial Firms

Financial firms around the world are being hit the hardest by cyber attacks, with a new survey showing that over a third of these companies suffered from cyber crime in 2013.

According to PwC's 2014 global economic crime survey, 39% of financial services companies were hit by cyber attacks, compared to only 17% of firms in other industries.

"Cybercrime is growing and the methods are constantly evolving," said Andrew Clark, a partner in PwC's forensics practice, in response to the survey, which is based on responses from 1,330 companies in 79 countries.

"We see no abatement in attacks on banks' infrastructure."

While over a third of financials experienced cyber crime, nearly half of all financial firms were victims on some form of fraud in 2013.

The most common forms of economic crime were cyber attacks, money laundering, accounting fraud and bribery and corruption.

The PwC report also unveiled a profile of the most likely perpetrator of cyber crime. The survey revealed that most the typical internal employee that conducted fraud is a male aged 31-50, with a university education, and is a junior or middle management member of staff.