The report says that ten years on from the previous publication that our security incident trend information shows cyber threats not only continue to exist but increase year-on-year. The report aims to inform organisations and support them in improving their knowledge of common security pitfalls.
The main causes of cyber attacks listed in the report are:
- Phishing – where scam messages trick the user and persuade people to share passwords or accidentally download malware.
- Brute force attacks - where criminals use trial and error to guess username and password combinations, or encryption keys.
- Denial of service – where criminals aim to stop the normal functioning of a website or computer network by overloading it.
- Errors – where security settings are misconfigured, including being poorly implemented, not maintained and or left on default settings.
- Supply chain attacks - where products, services, or technology you use are compromised and then used to infiltrate your own systems.
For each cause, the report explains how these attacks take place, some key considerations to mitigate the risk and likely future developments. Incidents or attacks where any security breaches may have taken place, or other damage was caused, should be reported to an external body. The SLT digital lead will be responsible for assigning someone to report any suspicious cyber incidents or attacks. This person will need to report this to: You may also need to report to: You must act in accordance with: Police investigations may find out if any compromised data has been published or sold and identify the perpetrator. m. Preserving evidence is as important as recovering from the crime.
The full report can be viewed: Learning from the mistakes of others – A retrospective review
What to do in the event of a Cyber Attack
Forward suspicious emails to