Opinion-in-brief: Cyber crime is here to stay, we need to fight back
There is a rising tide of cybercrime in the Big Data world. This year’s London Tech Week should be an opportunity to bolster our digital technologies, making them more secure for the future.
Cyber crime is becoming the biggest cyber threat facing the UK. Also known as ransomware, it is malicious software that uses encryption to hold a victim’s information at ransom. It has been ruthlessly employed by cyber criminal gangs across the world.
In the last annual review, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reported it had handled more than three times as many ransomware incidents than in the year before.
These attacks cost businesses millions, ruin confidence and disrupt critical services. In 2020, attacks cost at least £617m to the UK economy. That is most likely an underestimate.
My message to you is simple: take action. We need everyone to increase their resilience against cyber threats and know what to do if there is an attack.