UK firms want a new law enforcement regime to tackle cybercrime and tighter internet controls to combat counterfeiting and piracy, according to a survey by intellectual property firm Marks & Clerk.

The online poll of 216 organisations found that 80 per cent believe companies will be targeted more than in previous recessions simply due to the rise in the amount of business conducted online.

Marks & Clerk partner Pam Withers said this was the first "digital recession" and that businesses are anxious about the consequences.

"The success of the internet has meant increasingly vociferous criticism of those who play a part in counterfeiting – even those who do so unwittingly," she said.

Withers said that even before the slowdown, "strong brands such as Tiffany & Co and L'Oréal were critical of the role the internet plays in enabling the sale of counterfeit goods, which is intensifying as the recession takes hold".

Some 75 per cent of respondents said that stronger protection against counterfeiters in online marketplaces was needed, with 61 per cent calling for the creation of a tougher cybercrime authority.

Withers also pointed out that a major headache is the fragmented treatment of these issues from one country to another. "The internet is an international channel requiring a more co-ordinated response," she said.

But only 25 per cent of firms questioned agreed that the burden should fall on businesses themselves to police their brands more effectively, although 39 per cent recognised that they could be more proactive in dealing with the problem.

"Businesses must also come to recognise that they will need to do more to protect themselves," said Marks & Clerk associate Kirsten Gilbert.