More than three million crimes took place online last year, according to a new survey undertaken by criminology firm 1871 Ltd.

The startling figure throws into relief the necessity for UK businesses to have robust IT support systems in place.

According to the report, 60 per cent of the online crimes were "offences against the person", with abusive emails, false accusations posted on websites and blackmail all featuring prominently.

There were around 92,000 cases of online identity fraud last year, with about 40 per cent of all identity fraud being committed over the internet.

As well as this, there were around 207,000 cases of online financial fraud during 2006, which was up by 32 per cent from 2005. Card-not-present fraud is increasing particularly rapidly.

"Although measuring cybercrime is difficult, it is clear that in many instances it is outstripping 'traditional' crime," said Stefan Fafinski, chief executive of 1871.

"This is a result of the unparalleled opportunities that the internet gives both for making familiar crimes easier and for enabling 'pure' cybercrimes that could not exist without the internet."

Meanwhile, a separate report from intelligence firm Aberdeen found that companies are prioritising data protection as they become more and more reliant on IT.

According to recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent)