UK Businesses Reportedly Exposed to 600 Cyber-Attacks Per Day in Q3

Businesses in the UK were exposed to about 600 plus cyber attacks every day in the third quarter of 2017, as per a report brought out by Beaming, the leading Internet Service Provider for businesses across the UK. As per the report, the attacks happened as hackers mostly targeted remote working technologies. The report explains that an average business firm in the UK must have been targeted more than 55,000 times during the whole quarter.

The Beaming report states- “UK businesses were subjected to more than 600 cyber attacks a day during the third quarter of 2017, according to a new data from Beaming, the business ISP. Between July and September, the average UK firm experienced 55,314 attempts by hackers to access their data or take control of IT systems.”

The figure, however, is a bit lesser than the one for the second quarter. Beaming had reported earlier that in the second quarter of 2017 the average number of attacks per business was 65,000, which showed an increase of 52% when compared to the first quarter. The Beaming report for the second quarter stated-“The number of cyber attacks targeting UK-based businesses increased by more than half in the second quarter of 2017, according to a new report from Beaming, the business ISP. Firms were, on average, subjected to almost 65,000 internet-borne cyber attacks each in the three months to June, an increase of 52 percent on the first quarter of 2017.”

Trade analysts opine that the figure going down a bit in the third quarter could be due to a lull over the summer months. At the same time, the attacks targeting remote working technologies have shown an increasing trend in Q3. The Beaming report explains-“Although the volume of cyber attacks on businesses was lower over the summer months than in the second quarter of the year, Beaming’s analysis shows an increasing number of attacks on remote desktop applications, VoIP telephone systems and virtual private networks (VPNs) used to connect firms to remote workers and regional offices.”

The report gives further details-“On average, UK businesses were subjected to 1,842 cyber attacks attempting to access remote desktop applications in the third quarter, 540 more than during the three months to the end of June. There were 586 attacks per business targeting VoIP systems and 73 attempts to access private communication networks.”

Hackers, as per the report, were targeting remote controlled security cameras and building control systems mostly. Of all the internet-borne attacks that happened in Q3, unauthorized attempts to take control of such systems accounted for 63 percent. There were also some attacks (just about 16 percent of the total attacks) on company databases.

The Beaming report also contains comments from Sonia Blizzard, the Managing Director of the company. She says- “The nature of corporate cyber attacks is shifting. While most still target relatively simple devices connected to the Internet of Things and information held in company databases, we are seeing evidence that hackers are turning their attention to technologies that support branch offices and remote workers.”

She also discusses the attacks on remote technologies-“The rates of cyber-attack on internet telephony systems, remote desktop applications and virtual private networks have more than doubled since the start of this year. As more people choose to work remotely, these technologies are becoming increasingly important. They need to be protected properly if they are to create value and not new areas of vulnerability.”