Fighting back against the scammers

Britain’s cyber-defence unit blocked over a million attempts to steal money from citizens in the 12 months to 31 August, its annual report reveals ( www. snipca.com/33112).

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it set up

Operation Haulster to uncover which payment cards were being targeted by fraudsters. Researchers told banks about potential targets so they could thwart attacks and spot when cards had been hacked.

NCSC chief executive Ciaran Martin said: “In most cases, this has been done before a crime has taken place, meaning hundreds of thousands of victims of high-end cyber crime were protected before they lost a penny”.

The report contained results from the first ever UK Cyber Survey, showing what most people feared from cybercrime was loss of money.

In addition, the centre took down more than 177,000 phishing sites, 62 per cent of which were removed within 24 hours. As a result, HMRC has fallen from the 16th most-targeted organisation in the world for scams to 126th.

Mr Martin said: “Despite often being low in sophistication, these attacks threaten our social fabric, our way of life and our economic prosperity”.

To stay safe, the NCSC warns against using passwords that are easily guessed. It revealed the most common passwords in certain categories, including ‘Liverpool’ for Premier League football teams, ‘Ashley’ for names, and ‘Superman’ for fictional characters. ‘123456’ remains by far the most common password of all.

The report also highlights the “continuous” threat posed to the UK by hostile nations, in particular China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

In the 12 months covered by the report, the NCSC blocked 658 attacks on 900 organisations, including schools, airports and emergency services. Since forming in 2016, the centre has prevented 1,800 attacks.