The size and scope of online fraud and exposure of personally identifiable information is growing, according to global data from NuData Security, highlighting concerns about how the drive towards digital channels poses a rising threat to financial sectors, including wealth management.

The takeover of accounts with personally identifiable information is beating credit card fraud, according to the report. Of the over 500 million account creations analysed between May and July, NuData Security described more than 57% as highly risky or fraudulent, compared with the 28% figure for February-April, indicating a striking jump in "account creation fraud."

The company identified more than 270 million fraudulent or highly risky "behaviour events" between May and July. China was the most frequent source of such problems over the three months, followed by the US and then Saudi Arabia, the UK, Malaysia and Brazil respectively.

Unlike previous ecommerce industry breaches, recent attacks are growing in size and targeting valuable information such as social security numbers and bank account information. NuData Security believes that an analysis of behavioural attributes and biometrics helps a firm "authenticate the genuine user." Behavioural analysis, it teaches, serves as a means of understanding how legitimate users truly act, reducing the effect that a data breach might have on victims.