DANGER! CYBER ATTACK WARNING

Some charities and businesses are facing a near-constant threat from cyber criminals

TWO in five UK businesses and nearly a third of charities identified cyberattacks over the last year with many saying they were targeted by hackers at least once a week. A report from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) found that 39% of UK businesses and 30% of charities have seen their computer networks attacked by cybercriminals over the last 12 months.

And almost one in three businesses (31%) and a quarter of charities (25%) that had faced attacks said they experience breaches or attacks at least once a week.

Cyber threats identified over the past year have included high-profile attacks on Kaseya, Colonial Pipeline, and Microsoft Exchange, which were all hit by ransomware.

This is typically the use of malicious software to encrypt, and a ransom is then demanded in order to restore access.

Now businesses have been warned to strengthen cyber security, particularly with the threat of increased cyber attacks from Russia in retaliation for sanctions slapped on President Vladimir Putin’s regime in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

In a speech in Australia, British intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming, head of GCHQ warned that Russia’s “cyber actors are looking for targets in the countries that oppose their actions”, including the UK.

Cyber Minister Julia Lopez said: “It is vital that every organisation take cyber security seriously as more and more business is done online and we live in a time of increasing cyber risk.

“No matter how big or small your organisation is, you need to take steps to improve digital resilience now and follow the free government advice to help keep us all safe online.”

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey from the DCMS found that the frequency of cyber attacks is increasing, but the proportion of businesses facing threats remained the same.

However, companies with enhanced cybersecurity identified more attacks, which may suggest that firms with less effective firewalls may be underreporting.

The most common cyber threat was phishing attempts, which accounted for 83% of identified attacks. This is when cyber-criminals attempt to trick users into clicking a link that will then download malware (malicious software - a type of programme designed to damage computers) that can sabotage systems or steal intellectual property and money.

However, one in five businesses that were attacked by hackers (21%) identified a more sophisticated cyber-attack such as a denial of service - which means a network or a machine is shut down, making it inaccessible to users malware, or ransomware attack.

Organisations that responded to the Cyber

Security Breaches Survey cited ransomware as a major threat, despite its low prevalence. More than half of businesses

(56%) said they had a policy not to pay ransoms.