GeraGuard · Computer misuse
Unauthorised access to personal information (including hacking)
Unauthorised access to personal information (including hacking) is when someone gains access to your accounts, devices or personal data without permission — for example a hacked email or social-media account, or compromised cloud storage.
Quick answer
The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 564,000 incidents of unauthorised access to personal information (including hacking) in year ending March 2025 — about 11.6% of all fraud and computer-misuse incidents that year.
564,000
Estimated incidents · Computer misuse · year ending March 2025
How to protect yourself
- Use a unique password for every account, stored in a password manager.
- Turn on two-factor authentication, ideally an authenticator app or security key rather than SMS.
- Check whether your email appears in known data breaches and change exposed passwords.
- Review account recovery options and active sessions, and sign out of devices you no longer use.
Cut your exposure with GeraGuard
Free Chrome extension. Blocks malicious ads, phishing and trackers before they load.
Install freeFrequently asked questions
How common is unauthorised access to personal information (including hacking) in the UK?
The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated about 564,000 incidents of unauthorised access to personal information (including hacking) in year ending March 2025 — around 11.6% of all fraud and computer-misuse incidents measured that year.
What is unauthorised access to personal information (including hacking)?
Unauthorised access to personal information (including hacking) is when someone gains access to your accounts, devices or personal data without permission — for example a hacked email or social-media account, or compromised cloud storage.
Where does this figure come from?
Office for National Statistics (ONS) — Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), fraud and computer misuse. fraudandcomputermisuseappendixtablesyemarch25final.xlsx (Tables 1 and 2), reference period April 2024 to March 2025, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3). Retrieved 2026-06-27.
Other offence types
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) — Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), fraud and computer misuse. fraudandcomputermisuseappendixtablesyemarch25final.xlsx (Tables 1 and 2), reference period April 2024 to March 2025.
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3) © Crown copyright. Data retrieved: .