More than one in five (21 per cent) UK workers feel more vulnerable to cyber crime since the outbreak of COVID-19, according to a new survey from PwC.

Of those people, 35 per cent cited stress or fatigue and 17 per cent cited working in isolation as a reason that they feel more vulnerable.

The survey of 1,235 UK adults in September also revealed that 22 per cent felt more vulnerable to a cyber attack when sharing personal details for contact tracing reasons with restaurants or other hospitality venues.

Respondents were not only feeling more vulnerable, but have also been noticing more criminal activity during the crisis. When asked whether they had personally noticed an increase in speculative criminal activity, such as suspicious emails or malicious adverts and links, 32 per cent of workers replied that they had.

Daisy McCartney, cyber security culture and behaviour lead at PwC, said: “Cyber criminals are above all opportunistic and we are seeing them use the fear, uncertainty and stress around COVID-19 to target their victims and play on their emotions.

“It is therefore understandable that people are feeling vulnerable to cyber crime, and according to our survey, 19 per cent of people working from home during the pandemic do not feel that they have the necessary skills and training to keep safe from a cyber attack."

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