Nearly half of UK pension schemes still do not have insurance against cyber attacks, and a similar proportion are lacking the specialist skills needed to deal with the threat.

That is according to a new report from risk advisory firm Crowe, which surveyed pension scheme trustees on the challenges facing them as fraud and cybercrime levels rise.

Worryingly, 43% of respondents said that they had not tested the strength of their scheme’s IT systems, processes and procedures for cybercrime protection, while 47% did not have insurance against cyber attacks.

The survey also found that 42% of pension schemes did not have access to the specialist skills needed to investigate cybercrime incidents – rising to 50% of small schemes – and that 5% had no response plan in place at all.

This is despite cybercrime incidents increasing by 113% between April 2020 and September 2021.

“Fraud and cybercrime are the crimes of the 21st century, accounting for over half of all crimes in England and Wales,” said Jim Gee, partner and national head of forensic services at Crowe.

“With their high volume of payments to members and the amount of personal data held, pension schemes are seen as attractive targets by fraudsters. Trustees need to not only be aware of that fact, but act on it and implement preventative measures to mitigate the threat and impact of an incident.”

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