In light of rapidly evolving events in the Middle East, it is critical that all UK organisations remain alert to the potential risk of cyber compromise, particularly those with assets or supply chains that are in areas of regional tensions. Today, the National Cyber Security Centre has published an alert outlining the current cyber threat to the UK and the practical steps organisations should take in response.
having almost trebled since 2021 to 83,700, according to an analysis of more than 400 occupations tracked by the Office for National Statistics. The analysis was conducted by managed security services provider Socura, which claimed this means there are now more cyber professionals than there are architects, bricklayers, farm workers, armed forces officers and vets - and there is now one cyber security pro for every 68 businesses in the country, up from one per 196 just five years ago.
"Cyber-attacks can take vital public services offline in minutes, disrupting our digital services and our very way of life," he said. "This plan sets a new bar to bolster the defences of our public sector, putting cyber-criminals on warning that we are going further and faster to protect the UK's businesses and public services alike. "This is how we keep people safe, services running, and build a government the public can trust in the digital age."
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB) aims to ensure critical services, including healthcare, water, transport and energy, are protected against cyber attacks, which cost the UK economy almost £15bn a year.
UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer cleared out the officials in charge of tech and digital law in a dramatic cabinet reshuffle at the weekend. Former work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has replaced Peter Kyle as science, innovation and technology secretary and will take over responsibility for the controversial Online Safety Act, which has drawn criticism with regard to privacy and censorship. Starmer was forced into the reshuffle after Angela Rayner resigned as deputy PM amid a media frenzy over her tax affairs - specifically, she underpaid stamp duty on a property.
The chief executive of Co-op confirmed all 6.5 million of its members had their data stolen in a cyber-attack in April. She stated, 'I'm devastated that information was taken.' There was no financial data, only names, addresses, and contact information that was lost. Despite the attack, she expressed that she would not step down and offered an apology for the incident.
"Cloud spending is growing fast - exponentially for some - and it's holding businesses back from investing in growth and innovation," said James Kretchmar, global CTO of the cloud technology division at Akamai Technologies.
"It's an agreement that recognises our value...as a huge client of their organisation, and how important their technology is to help us deliver changes to public services, to make them more in touch, more in tune and better value for money for taxpayers."
Starmer has vowed to spend 3% of the UK's gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, saying it will help make Britain 'battle ready'.
"Pervasive malware like DanaBot harms hundreds of thousands of victims around the world, including sensitive military, diplomatic, and government entities, and causes many millions of dollars in losses."
"I don't think these are necessarily quick changes to make, but there is cyber risk if and when those changes are made," said Christina Powers, cyber security partner at West Monroe.
