Last week the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) released their annual report on the cyber threats facing UK businesses. The report examines how cyber activity has impacted UK businesses over the past 12 months and the future threats they will face.
Cryptojacking
Cryptojacking is when cryptocurrency miners are delivered through malware, using a computer’s processing power to illicitly mine cryptocurrency. This technique has been used over the past few years, but it is likely to become one of the main cyber security threats in 2018–19 as it evolves into a newer technique – exploiting website visitors.
Supply chain compromises
Cyber criminals target commercial software, aiming to damage its reputation by compromising the end user. Users are generally unaware that the software has been compromised, making it very difficult to reduce this type of threat.
Worms
The successful use of worms in the WannaCry attack in 2017 has likely encouraged criminal hackers to use them as an automated and faster way to spread malware. This increased usage of worms could also lead to an increase in successful malware attacks.
IoT
Gartner has predicted that 11.2 billion things will be connected to the Internet worldwide by 2018. With the number of Internet-connected devices increasing, more attackers will use the Internet of Things (IoT) to commit cyber crimes.
Many Internet-connected devices don’t contain basic cyber security provisions, making them unsecure and vulnerable to exploitation.
Cloud security
The report states that only 40% of the data that is stored in the Cloud is actually access secured. Although organisations have voiced concerns about the security of their data in the Cloud, this hasn’t stopped more and more of them moving their data onto it.
This makes the Cloud an appealing target to cyber criminals, who can take advantage of organisations that store their data on the Cloud but fail to stipulate where and how they would like it stored.
Faith in the Cloud could lead to a large breach involving people’s data.
Data breaches
Data breaches are continually in the headlines, with many breaches the result of poor security management.
Under the GDPR, organisations will need to complete risk assessments and put the relevant security measures in place in order to detect and respond to cyber threats quickly and effectively. This could lead to a decrease in the amount of data breaches, as organisations become more secure.
Our Cyber Security Audit and Review consultancy service delivers an independent assessment of your organisation’s compliance with UK government security policies, objectives, standards and processes.
The service will implement processes and techniques to ensure your organisation is conforming to security policies, standards and legal and regulatory requirements, and will recommend appropriate security controls.
Speak to one of our experts today to find out how the Cyber Security Audit and Review can help your organisation.