- People in the Greater Manchester area are most at risk to cybercrime, study finds
- Kent and the Metropolitan area take second and third, respectively
New research has revealed the areas in England and Wales most susceptible to cybercrime, with Greater Manchester coming out on top.
The study by cyber security experts CloudTech24 analysed the latest data available from the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre to see which areas reported the highest levels of cybercrime for every 10,000 people.
It found that residents of the Greater Manchester area were most susceptible to cybercrime, with Greater Manchester receiving 1,803 cybercrime reports in the last 13 months, which equates to around 6.33 reports per 10,000 people, the highest of any area. The most commonly reported types of cybercrime include the hacking of personal information and the hacking of social media or email accounts.
Coming in second place is the Kent area, which reported 1,066 cybercrimes in the time of the study, which is equivalent to around 5.71 reports per 10,000 people. Approximately half of these reports were for hacking social media and email accounts.
The Metropolitan Police area, which covers Greater London, comes in third place. 5,036 cybercrime reports were received in the last 13 months by the Metropolitan Police, which equates to around 5.60 reports per 10,000 people. Once again, the most widely reported cybercrime was the hacking of social media and email accounts, as well as the hacking of personal information, followed by computer viruses or malware.
Taking fourth place on the list is the Bedfordshire area, with Bedfordshire Police receiving 376 cybercrime reports during the time of the study, equivalent to 5.51 reports per 10,000 people. Most reports also came in for social media and email account hacking.
Rounding out the top five is the Hertfordshire area, where in the last 13 months, there were 648 cybercrime reports or 5.42 reports per 10,000 people. Social media and email account hacking were the most common reports, followed by computer viruses or malware cases.
| Rank | Police Force | Population | Cybercrimes reported | Cybercrimes per 10,000 people |
| 1 | Greater Manchester | 2,848,300 | 1,803 | 6.33 |
| 2 | Kent | 1,868,200 | 1,066 | 5.71 |
| 3 | Metropolitan Police | 8,991,600 | 5,036 | 5.60 |
| 4 | Bedfordshire | 682,300 | 376 | 5.51 |
| 5 | Hertfordshire | 1,195,700 | 648 | 5.42 |
| 6 | Hampshire | 1,999,100 | 1,080 | 5.40 |
| 7 | Northamptonshire | 757,200 | 408 | 5.39 |
| 8 | Nottinghamshire | 1,170,500 | 609 | 5.20 |
| 9 | Sussex | 1,718,200 | 833 | 4.85 |
| 10 | Dorset | 776,800 | 376 | 4.84 |
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for CloudTech24 said: “It’s interesting to see how cybercrime can affect everyone, regardless of location, with the top ten areas being very spread out across the country. The data indicates that the most common type of crime is hacking of social media and email, which highlights how important it is for people to be vigilant about online threats, both in their personal lives and at work.”
