Over the last 12 months I’ve noticed a significant increase in news headlines containing the word ‘Cyber’, in one form or another. It’s possible I’m experiencing the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon – when someone repeatedly notices a newly learned word or phrase shortly after learning it – because I’m currently studying for a cyber security certification. Although I’m convinced this isn’t the case; I’ve been aware of marketing terms such as ‘Cyber Monday’, Cyber-space and its other forms for many years. I’m specifically talking about the darker, more nefarious headlines which include a suffix to the word cyber such as: crime, attack and theft.
So much so, I’ve decided to create a ‘Cyber Security’ category within our blog, wherein we can update you with business relevant news and articles related to this emerging and, I think, fascinating subject.
So to kick things off, for our first article under this topic I’d like to point you in the direction of a report jointly published earlier this year by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and National Crime Agency (NCA) called The Cyber Threat to UK Business. Whether you run a UK business or not I would recommend taking a look – it’s written in plain english so you don’t have to be a techie to understand it.
The report contains pivotal incidents of 2016 including a destructive attack on Ukrainian power supply, a Yahoo! data breach and hacking the US Democratic Party. There’s insight into predicted future threats to both business and consumers via ransomware and data leaks. Importantly the report offers common sense solutions on how businesses can protect themselves against future cyber threats. As the previous year’s headlines suggest, the report reveals “the past year has been punctuated by cyber attacks on a scale and boldness not seen before”.
You can read the PDF report on the NCSC’s website here: The Cyber Threat to UK Business.
