Following the announcement of a new Cyber Strategy in the UK, Chris Ross, SVP Sales, International at Barracuda Networks offers his comments. He offers insight into the damage cyber crime has had and what areas need to be defended against.
“Cybercrime is having a devastating impact on public sector institutions, business owners, consumers and even charities. Cyber criminals do not discriminate when it comes to seizing valuable data, disrupting systems and breaching IT networks, and remote working has given rise to a new calibre of cybercrime, which targets cloud infrastructure, log-in credentials, and unsecured networks and devices with unprecedented sophistication and persistence.
“Our recent data has even revealed a 64% uptick in ransomware attacks targeting businesses in the last year, as well as a rising threat of other attack forms and methods, including automated and ‘bot-based’ cyberattacks targeting web applications, and phishing attacks using the guise of charity, the health service, or the vaccination rollout programme, to trick unsuspecting victims into leaking confidential data.
“The government’s national cyber strategy is certainly a positive step in the right direction towards closing the gap in this battle against cyber criminals – but truly negating cyber crime requires a concerted effort across the board, from staffers and consumers, to business owners and governmental or influential figures.”
