UK Cyber Security Chief Warns of Rising Hostile Activity
Britain's cyber security chief Richard Horne has issued a stark warning about the increasing hostile activity in the UK's cyberspace. According to the National Cyber Security Centre the number of incidents handled by officials has risen by 16% in 2024 compared to the previous year. The NCSC which is part of Britain's GCHQ spy agency managed 430 incidents this year. This is up from 371 last year.
Horne said that these attacks are becoming more frequent, sophisticated and intense. He pointed out that 347 incidents involved data exfiltration (unauthorized data transfer) and 20 involved ransomware attacks. The NCSC also issued 542 notifications to organizations about cyber incidents. This is more than double the number from last year.
The annual review by the NCSC warned that ransomware attacks pose the most immediate and disruptive threat to critical infrastructure such as energy, water, transportation, health and telecommunications. Horne also mentioned the potential for hackers to exploit AI to create more advanced cyber attacks.
Horne stressed that the severity of the risk facing the UK is being widely underestimated and that there is no room for complacency about the threats posed by state led actors and cybercriminals.
