The number of cyberattacks have rapidly grown through the pandemic and are showing no signs of slowing down. Around a third (31%) of UK businesses experience cyber-attacks or breaches at least once a week, according to new figures published in the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 report.
In an age of rapid digital acceleration, UK businesses need to bolster their cyber hygiene if they want to stand any chance against an evolving threat landscape. If they don’t, they’ll continue to suffer with the likes of Yodel, a delivery business with major service disruptions after a cyber incident, or even Gloucester Council, whose IT services are still not back to normal six months after a cyber attack.
For organisations to improve their security posture, they need a better understanding of the threats. And currently, there are three threats that UK businesses must watch out for; ongoing geopolitical hacking, vulnerable software builds and distribution environments, and lastly, machine identity-related outages. Each of these pose unique problems to business leaders that, if left unattended, can have damaging consequences.
Threat of geopolitical hacking
State-sponsored cyberattacks have increased over the last year as a form of state espionage amid global tensions and conflicts. The UK is likely to become an ongoing target of foreign hackers, with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Steve Barclay, reporting Britain is now the third most targeted country in the world in cyberspace from hostile states.
One of the ways that state sponsors gain access to a business is by compromising their supply chain software. Kevin Bocek, VP Security Strategy and Threat Intelligence at Venafi says it is one of the favoured methods by hackers, especially with the rise of enterprises, in both the private and public sector, creating their own solutions through third-party software.
