Energy sector the 'most attacked' in the UK, report

And the UK is among the three most targeted in countries in Europe

The UK, Germany and Italy suffered the largest number cyber attacks in Europe in 2021, and the UK's energy sector was targetted in a quarter of all attempts in the country.

That's according to IBM's annual X Force Threat Intelligence Index report, which was published today. The report is based on threat intelligence from real-world incidents in 2021.

The energy sector was the target of 24 per cent of attacks, with manufacturing and finance each on 19 per cent.

Data theft was the most common outcome of an attack in the UK, occurring in 31 per cent of cases, and the report documents a sharp rise in the use by threat actors of unpatched flaws, with the number of network compromises stemming from vulnerability exploitation up 33 per cent.

Globally, ransomware remains a scourge, although the proportion of all attacks that used ransomware was down slightly at 21 per cent globally compared with 23 per cent last year; in the UK, that number was 15 per cent.

The now-disbanded REvil gang was responsible for more than a third of ransomware attacks globally in 2021.

Energy and manufacturing make tempting targets for cyber criminals because of their complex supply chains and management structures and, in some cases, critical role in the economy.

Laurance Dine, global partner X-Force Incident Response at IBM, said: "In the UK, critical industries such as energy, manufacturing and finance are key targets for cyber criminals, underlining the importance of the government's National Cyber Security Strategy to ensure the economy remains resilient in our fast-moving digital world.

"In Europe, we saw adversaries overwhelmingly exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities to infiltrate victim environments in 2021, highlighting the importance of adopting a zero-trust approach to security."

A spokesperson for the Charter Of Trust, a global initiative aimed at advancing security standards and cross-sector collaboration in cyber security, said: "With IBM revealing that nearly half of cyber attacks observed in Europe were caused by vulnerability exploitation last year, it's more important than ever that industry and policy strengthen their threat information sharing ecosystem, increase standardisation and combine know-how to evolve and enhance organisations' defences against new cyber threats."

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