Whitehall departments are at growing risk of being hacked because anti-cyber attack defences are ‘lower’ than thought, an alarming report has found.
The inquiry by the National Audit Office (NAO) was branded a ‘wake-up call’ for officials to step-up defences against hostile actors.It identified a shortage of cyber skills within departments and risks posed by outdated IT systems. This means the UK is struggling to ‘catch up with the acute cyber threat’ and ‘get on top of this most pernicious threat’, according to the watchdog. More than two hundred antiquated IT systems were also in operation, with officials unable to say how vulnerable these were to attack.
Read more…
Source: MSN News
Related:
- Northern Ireland: Man arrested in connection with PSNI data breach
July 29, 2024
Detectives investigating criminality linked to the PSNI data breach have arrested a 54-year-old man. Data relating to all 9,483 PSNI officers and staff was mistakenly included in a spreadsheet published online last August in response to a freedom of information request. The list included the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, ...
- Guernsey: Warning after spike in cyber-attacks
July 25, 2024
Authorities have warned organisations to take extra measures to protect their IT systems after a spike in cyber-attacks in Guernsey. The Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA) said some Microsoft 365 systems had been compromised by phishing attacks, where someone is tricked into giving out information over email. It warned criminals were becoming increasingly adept ...
- UK teen arrested for alleged role in MGM Resorts cyberattack
July 21, 2024
A 17-year-old boy from Walsall has been arrested in connection with the September 2023 cyberattack that crippled MGM Resorts for several days. The West Midlands Police, working alongside the FBI and the National Crime Agency (NCA), apprehended the teenager on Thursday, 18th July, on suspicion of violating the UK’s Computer Misuse Act and blackmail offenses. Authorities ...
- HS2 investigating possible misconduct tied to ‘serious’ data breach
July 18, 2024
HS2 has launched a formal investigation into allegations of gross misconduct tied to a “serious” data breach earlier in the year, City A.M. understands. Sources allege the incident took place in late May. HS2 Ltd, the company sponsored by the Department for Transport (DfT) to oversee the project, subsequently began an investigation into a potential significant ...
- Student who created malware worth £45k while living with parents is jailed
July 17, 2024
A university student who created malware targeting government websites while living with his parents has been jailed. Amar Tagore, 21, a third year university student, offered buyers malware (malicious software) to disrupt corporate and state-run websites, while living with his parents in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire. He supplied a tool used by hundreds of online customers to ...
- London council slammed for ‘severe’ data breach in ‘avoidable’ cyber attack
July 17, 2024
Britain’s data watchdog has lambasted London’s Hackney Council for a cyber attack that “severely” impacted residents, saying the breach was “a clear and avoidable error.” In October 2020, hackers infiltrated Hackney’s systems, accessing, encrypting, and in some instances exfiltrating personal data. The compromised information included residents’ names, addresses, racial or ethnic origins, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, ...