Security specialist SentryBay, today has warned organisations in the public sector to be prepared for an increase in internal fraud from employees, following the government’s recent announcement on spending cuts, which is expected to cost 490,000 public sector jobs.

SentryBay has already seen a significant increase in sales for its Enterprise Data Protection Suite (DPS), from organisations preparing to implement anti-keylogging and anti-phishing procedures as corporate crime increases.  It believes that as public sector redundancies begin – which will have a knock-on effect within the private sector - disgruntled employees will put even greater pressure on the privacy and information security practices of organisations.

Dave Waterson, Chief Executive Officer, SentryBay said: “Cyberspace has provided a new environment for criminals seeking an alternative way to commit fraud and other crimes. We are anticipating that, as public sector redundancies commence, disgruntled employees will use the host of new, customisable Trojan development kits to extract private, valuable information which will then be used to generate income from selling sensitive data collected - or exacting revenge on their previous employer through virus or spyware attacks.  

The news of the possible redundancies comes at a time when organisations are already alarmed over the levels of illegal activity such as website fraud and hackers stealing confidential data. It is reported that such theft is already costing the public sector £17bn per year (58 per cent of total fraud).