Online security breaches in China have skyrocketed more than 500% in the past year, according to the recently released PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global State of Information Security Survey 2016.

In the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong, the average number of detected security incidents jumped to 1,245 over the past 12 months from only 241 reported during the same period the previous year, according to the survey.

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The report also said that the average financial loss to China caused by the crimes rose 10% percent to $2.63 million. This is in contrast to the rest of the world, which actually saw a 5% drop in financial losses due to cyber crimes.

"We are witnessing attacks from all angles, but the industries facing the most impact include consumer, retail, and technology," PricewaterhouseCoopers' Samuel Sinn told Chinese state media.

According to the survey, hackers targeted consumer data, internal records and intellectual property. It found a 64% rise in security incidents concerning customer records, compared to an average increase of 35%.

It also reported that 50% of all detected security breaches were caused by current or former employees of targeted companies.

Just last week, there was a high-profile cyber attack on Hong Kong-based digital toymaker VTech Holdings, in which the data of 6.4 million children was breached. It reportedly us known hack targeting children.

And In September, many popular Chinese iOS apps were infected with malicious software.

In response to the surge in cyber crime, the survey also found that companies in China had boosted information security spending by 16% compared to last year.

Security spending in the China averaged $7.9 million, compared to the worldwide average of $5.1 million.

"Companies must continue evolving their security strategies to stay prepared for ever-growing cyber risks," Sinn said. "This should include implementing a robust control cycle to continuously identify new insider threats and improve security controls."

The survey was conducted online between May and June of 2015, and is based on responses from more than 10,000 company executives in 127 countries. More than 330 companies from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong participated.

TagsReport: Cyber Crimes in China Soar by More Than 500%, Cyber security breaches, cyber attacks, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global State of Information Security Survey, Samuel Sinn, Cyber Security, cyber crimes on the rise, Chinatopix