WALES is one of the worst affected regions in the UK for cybercrime, a new study has found.

The shock news comes as the University of Birmingham and internet security firm Avast has released its data, which looks at victims of cybercrime, and where they come from.

It shows that outside of London, victimisation levels are at their highest in Wales.

Figures show that 72 percent of adults in Wales have experienced cybercrime.

The findings come after analysis of Ofcom survey data, which was collected from more than 2,000 people in the UK.

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But, while Wales ranked highly for people impacted by cybercrime, it was the joint third best region for awareness of such crimes.

Of the people surveyed, 36 percent in Wales said that they had “high levels of concern about using the internet, recognise potential online dangers, and don't trust that organisations are doing enough to keep their data safe.”

John Hayward-Cripps, CEO of Neighbourhood Watch, said, "There will be multiple reasons why the level of cybercrime victimisation differs from region to region.

“What we know for sure is that opportunistic cybercriminals are indiscriminate in who they target, and as our lives become more digitised, more people are likely to be affected by an increasing number of attempted attacks.”

More information about the study, and Neighbourhood Watch, can be found online here - https://www.avast.com/uk-cyberhood