National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of the United Kingdom’s intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters, recently revealed in an annual study that more than 1,000 cyber attacks were reported to the organization since October 2016. More than half of these incidents posed significant threats, according to the study. NCSC published the report on the occasion of its first anniversary.
As per the NCSC, 1,131 attacks were reported in the last 12 months out of which 590 were marked as significant and more than 30 were classed serious enough to attract government’s attention. The NCSC head Ciaran Martin warned of more cyber attacks in the near future.
Martin said, “The UK faces threats from across the globe on a daily basis and while we have brought together unprecedented expertise to defend the UK, it’s not a question of ‘if’ cyber attacks will happen, it’s a matter of when”.
“The NCSC’s first duty is to manage and mitigate against attacks. Our anniversary report shows the progress we have made working with government, industry and individuals to create a truly lasting national asset”, he added. “We are proud of what we have achieved in our first 12 months, but there is so much more to do in the years ahead to counter this threat to our values, prosperity and way of life.”
One of the biggest cyber attacks was the infamous “wannacry,” that hit 3,00,000 PCs worldwide and almost led to a global crash in the economy. The cyber attack on UK parliament was also mentioned in the report.