UK government now serves as a target for coronavirus themed cyberattack. A report from the government's cybersecurity arm reveals that one out of four cyberattacks that the country receives is related to the COVID-19.
According to TechRadar, the report came from the National Cyber Security Center a part of the GCHQ. The data revealed that 25 percent of the overall total cybersecurity crimes that the agency handled had something to do with the global pandemic.
Sudden increase in cyberattack incidents during a pandemic
The annual NCSC report was a result of the agency's investigation on 723 major security issues. The figures turned out that 194 or almost 27 percent of the reported incidents were related to the coronavirus.
The report specifically covered the dates from September 2019 to August 2020. It also mentioned the noticeable increase in the number of cybersecurity issues as the year entered especially when the pandemic started. As per the reported figures, the number of cyberattack incidents increased this year by a fifth on its annual average since it started in 2016.
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The UK government, as well as the country's health sector, received a dramatic increase in the number of reported Cybersecurity concerns in the year 2020 as compared to the figures they gathered in the past,
In order to combat the pandemic, the UK government utilized every possible means to detect, target, and to eliminate the possible sources of the coronavirus. It was at this height of the use of online facilities that hackers tried to interfere and take advantage of it.
One main strategy of attack that hackers are implementing is inciting public fear. A lot of cyberattacks perpetrators benefit and gain profit from putting up a public scare.
A part of the investigation revealed that hackers are using vaccine research as espionage for the attack. The NHS just became a favorite target for hackers.
A few days ago, the US federal agencies sent a warning about potential cyber-attacks. The warning described the attack as a credible kind of threat to hospitals and health organizations actively involved in the battle against COVID-19.
The targeted device may face a ransomware attacks. The said damage could go as far as locking of the entire computer networks.
NCSC at work in the cyberattack prevention
Lindy Cameron, the NCSC's new chief executive assured the public that the agency heightened its support behind the critical sectors affected by the pandemic.
Right from the beginning season of the coronavirus spread, the NCSC checked on the NHS organizations for potential weak points that could serve as an entrance for the cyberattacks. They strengthened their discovered 160 high risk and critical vulnerabilities in the said institutions.
However, the recent report revealed a more serious threat against the UK government's line of defense against COVID 19. APT 29 oo Cozy Bear aims to intrude on the vaccine development currently in the process under the UK government organization.
Paul Chichester, NCSC's director of operations believes that the hackers aim to have their hands on the information on vaccine elements. He said that this cyberattack is more about hackers intruding on the vaccine supply chain, according to Financial Times.
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