Cyber-attacks rise by 50% in past year, UK security agency says | Cybercrime
Figures from the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) have revealed that “highly significant” cyber attacks have increased by 50% in the past year, with the UK’s security services now facing a new nationally significant attack more than any other day.
In what authorities have described as a “call to arms”, national security officials and ministers are calling on organizations from the smallest businesses to the largest employers to prepare contingency plans in case your “IT infrastructure” goes down. [is] Tomorrow you’ll get injured and all your screens will be [go] space”.
The NCSC, which is part of GCHQ, said in its annual review published on Tuesday that a “highly sophisticated” China, “capable and irresponsible” Russia, Iran and North Korea were the main state threats. The increase is driven by ransomware attacks, often by criminal actors seeking money, and society’s increasing reliance on technology, which increases the number of hackable targets.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, security secretary Dan Jarvis and technology and business ministers Liz Kendall and Peter Kyle have called on leaders of hundreds of the largest British companies to make cyber resilience a board-level responsibility, warning that hostile cyber activity in the UK is becoming “more intense, frequent and sophisticated”.
“Don’t be an easy target,” GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler said. “Prioritize cyber risk management, incorporate it into your management, and manage it from the top.”
NCSC dealt with 429 cyber incidents in the year to September, with almost half classified as of national significance; this number was more than double last year. Of these, 18 were “quite significant”; This meant that it had serious impacts on the government, essential services, population and economy. Many of these were ransomware incidents, including attacks that significantly affected Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group.
“Cybercrime is a serious threat to the security of our economy, businesses and people’s livelihoods,” Jarvis said. “We’re working around the clock to counter threats and provide support to businesses of all sizes, but we can’t do it alone.”
The NCSC has refused to comment on reports that one of the investigations into the crippling attack on Jaguar Land Rover, which halted production, was to examine Russian interference. He said Russia had inspired unofficial “hacktivists” targeting the UK and US, as well as European and NATO countries.
Overall, the number of attacks from September to September represented the highest level of cyber threat activity recorded by the NCSC in nine years. According to the NCSC, in the 12-month period the UK and its allies uncovered a Russian military unit carrying out cyber attacks for the first time, advised against a China-linked campaign targeting thousands of devices and raised the alarm about cyber actors working for Iran. But the threat is also growing locally, with two 17-year-olds arrested in Hertfordshire last week after allegedly ransomware hacked the data of children at the Kido nursery chain.
Hackers are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to sharpen their operations, and while the NCSC is not yet facing an AI-initiated attack, it said: “AI is almost certain to create challenges to cyber resilience in 2027 and beyond.”
“We are seeing our attackers hone their ability to create real impact, harming the organizations they breach and those who rely on them,” said Richard Horne, CEO of the NCSC. “They don’t care who they hit or how they hurt them. That’s why we need all organizations to step up.”
Emphasizing the emotional impact of being a victim of a cyber attack, he said: “I have sat in too many rooms now with individuals who have been deeply affected by cyber attacks on their organizations… I know the anxiety, the sleepless nights, the impact this disruption has on their employees, suppliers and customers.”
