Pornography blamed for 52% of fraud cases between 2001 and 2004

Downloading porn from the internet is behind most cases of IT fraud and abuse by public sector workers, according to a just published survey.

Watchdog the Audit Commission discovered that 52% of identified cases of fraud or abuse between 2001 and last year were due to staff accessing pornography or other "inappropriate material" while at work. This was a 13% increase since the commission's last IT fraud and abuse survey four years ago. The increased need for internet access for public sector workers and the increase in access to website pornography made it difficult for organisations to control staff logging on to inappropriate sites, said the report, An Update on ICT Fraud and Abuse 2004.