Insights | Integrity360

Weekly Cyber News Roundup – September 12th- 16th 2022

Written by Matthew Olney | 16 September 2022 10:00:00 Z

There’s always something happening in the world of cyber security which is why every week Integrity360 highlights just a few of the biggest stories hitting the headlines. 

NCSC issues scam warning during period of national mourning in the UK  

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a warning over potential scams during the next few days and weeks as the UK mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth the second.  

According to the NCSC, there is likely to be a sharp increase in the number of phishing emails being sent to unsuspecting mourners as cyber criminals seek to exploit the death of Her Majesty.  

NCSC advises that people should be aware of the possibility of increased phishing attempts and to pay close attention to the content of any unexpected emails, text messages and other forms of communication being received over the next few days. 

Read more: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/potential-phishing-activity-update 

Individuals and organisations are also being warned to be aware of phishing emails titled ‘In Memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’ as it claims to be from Microsoft and states that the company is creating an interactive AI memory board. The recipient is urged to click a link embedded in the email that will take them to a page asking them to enter their email credentials.  

80% of organisations have suffered a severe cloud security incident in 2022 

According to a new report entitled State of Cloud Security, 80% of organisations reported a severe cloud security breach over the course of the current year with a quarter of respondents stating that they were concerned they had suffered a cloud data breach and were unaware of it. 

The report from developer security specialist Snyk stated that they polled 400 cloud engineers from hundreds of organisations of varying sizes. From the results of their survey, it was made clear that start-ups (89%) and public sector organisations (88%) suffered the most security breaches over the timeframe. 

Over 50% of respondents stated that they believed they would experience another serious cloud related incident over the next 12 months. 

Interestingly, the majority (77%) of those surveyed stated that poor training and business wide collaboration were to blame for the number of incidents highlighting the importance of introducing strong cyber security training programmes across an organisation. 

Develop a comprehensive, security-driven cloud computing strategy that preserves business continuity and reduces the likelihood of a data breach by downloading our eBook on Securing the Cloud. 

New FCA report shows DDoS attacks against financial sector surged in first half of 2022 

 Following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that it received a sharp increase in the number of reported Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks during the first quarter of the year. 

Analysts believe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the main driver for the increase in the number of DDoS attack against UK financial firms. Russian state actors and hacktivists have the UK in their sights due to the nation’s staunch support for the Ukrainian government. 

According to the FCA, 25% of all cyber related incidents reported to them were DDoS attacks, a massive increase from the 4% recorded during the same period in 2021. 

Integrity360 has proven experience working with major financial institutions and banks, helping to ensure their customers and employees always stay protected. 

Get in touch to find out how you can protect your organisation itself from financial services most challenging cyber-threats.