[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Cyber crimes have dramatically risen against financial services firms - so much so that they now are the second most commonly reported economic crime against firms in this business sector, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.  Not surprisingly, cyber criminals tend to target financial-services firms over firms in other businesses. The #1 crime continues to be asset misappropriation - e.g., embezzlement and deception by employees - accounting for 38% of criminal incidents for financial companies, compared with 16% in other business sectors.

"Cyber crime puts the financial sector’s customers, brand and reputation at significant risk.  Regulators are increasingly viewing cyber crime as a key area of focus and financial institutions are expected to have appropriate systems and controls in place." -- Andrew Clark, PwC forensic services partner.

Defining Cyber Crime. This type of fraud involves the use of computers or the Internet and can include theft of personal information, industrial espionage, reputational damage, financial theft, and disruption of services.  About 29% of financial firms that responded to the survey said they hadn't received cyber security training. Survey Statistics. PwC received 3,877 responses representing 78 countries - with 23% of the respondents identifying that they are in the financial-services sector. For further details, go to [Bloomberg, 3/26/12].