BACKGROUND:
It has been reported that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it tackled a record number of cyber incidents in the UK over the last year, with ransomware attacks originating from Russia dominating its activities. The cybersecurity agency said it had helped deal with a 7.5% increase in cases in the year to August, fuelled by the surge of criminal hackers seizing control of corporate data and demanding payment in cryptocurrency for its return. Paul Chichester, director of operations, said that “ransomware has certainly dominated a significant portion of year” and that the hacking epidemic had become “global as a story in the last 12 months”.
<p>Ransomware attacks in the UK doubled in the past year. Is it any surprise? And that\’s just the attacks we know of. And having to choose between paying a ransom to keep your business operating, or not paying and further encouraging these attacks is not a good choice. In the case of the Hackney Council, the damages were felt for almost a year, with residents unable to pay council tax or access systems. We truly need to up our game and become active in the defense of our data, customers, and \"crown jewels\". Organisations need to consider themselves a target at all times and act accordingly, protecting their systems internally and securing any valuable information and data. The best strategy is to eliminate any exploitable identities in the attack surface. And to implement compensating controls to prevent lateral movement in the network.</p>