No one is safe from cybercrime, as the UK’s justice secretary Jack Straw discovered in February when his e-mail account was hacked into by fraudsters who then messaged his contacts, begging for money.

Online card fraud cost the UK £223.8m ($356.2m) in 2007, according to the online identity protection company Garlik. The figure represents an increase of 45 per cent from 2006, with the average loss standing at £875. Nearly half of all UK businesses suffered attempts to hack into their systems or obtain customer details through phishing sites – more than 25,000 of which were detected in 2007.

However, you’re even more likely to be attacked by gossips than thieves. Cyber offences against the person, including spreading rumours and posting someone’s details on dating sites without permission, was the largest category of UK cybercrime in 2007.

Source: Garlik UK Cybercrime report 20