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Sugar GCHQ’s cyber security agency has warned that hackers pose a “highly sophisticated and capable” threat to the UK.
This warning came after National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) reported a 50% increase in “highly significant” online incidents carried out by criminals and state-linked groups by the end of August.
The NCSC said the attacks on household names including Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Jaguar Land Rover showed the real world impact of cyber attacks.
Security Minister, at the launch of the Annual Review of NCSC and jarvis said everything Britain Must “step up” and play our part in the country’s online security.
He said: “Cyber crime is one of the biggest threats to our economy, our businesses, the livelihoods of our workers and while.” Government Providing more cybersecurity support, we can’t do it alone.
“We need to lead businesses by making cybersecurity a top priority.
“And we need citizens to step up and take personal responsibility for their own cyber security.”
He warned that “any syndicate of cowards hiding behind keyboards can have a devastating impact” and that they are “as happy to hack the NHS and nurseries as they are billion-pound companies”.
As well as online criminals launching ransomware attacks to demand funds from firms or individuals, the UK is also targeted by hostile states – either directly or through groups operating at arms length from authorities in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang.
The NCSC’s annual review states: “State actors pose a significant threat to UK and global cyber security, aided by an evolving cyber intrusion sector.
“As threats escalated, our incident management team faced a record number of nationally significant incidents.”
The report states:
, China is a “highly sophisticated and capable threat actor, targeting multiple regions and institutions around the world, including the UK”.
, Russia is “a capable and unaccountable threat actor in cyberspace”, while pro-Moscow “hacktivist” groups operating outside formal state control are trying to target the UK, Europe, the US and other NATO countries in retaliation for Western support for Ukraine and Israel.
, Iran’s activity is mainly focused in the Middle East, but the NCSC assesses it is “highly likely” that UK entities could be potential targets for hackers linked to Tehran, following a US warning that Iranian state-sponsored or associated cyber activity could put critical infrastructure at risk.
, North Korea’s “prolific and capable” hacking activity is primarily aimed at raising revenue, intelligence gathering and mitigating the impact of international sanctions, while Kim Jong Un’s country’s covert IT staff are “almost certainly” targeting UK companies as third-country freelance staff.
NCSC chief Richard Horne said: “We know our adversaries are combining cyber means with physical means to advance their objectives.
“Just last month, agencies from 13 countries came together and warned that three technology companies based in China had conducted a malicious global cyber campaign targeting critical networks on behalf of their host country.”
Concurrent with that warning in August this year, NCSC and colleagues uncovered a covert network operated by a China-linked company called Integrity Technology Group, or Flax Typhoon, in September 2024, which contained a botnet consisting of 260,000 compromised devices worldwide.
NCSC experts are also concerned about the “pre-condition” of hostile states for attacks on infrastructure, including access to IT workers who could launch attacks against targets on short notice.
The NCSC report comes as the risk posed by China to Britain comes under intense political scrutiny after the collapse of an alleged espionage case, and the decision on Beijing’s application to build a huge new embassy in the heart of London.
The NCSC report warned that hackers – including those linked to Beijing – were using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the efficiency of their attacks.
“Actors associated with China, Russia, Iran, and the DPRK are using large language models to evade detection, support reconnaissance, process infiltrated data, access systems through social engineering, and support vulnerability research and exploit development,” the NCSC warned.
In the year to the end of August, the NSCS provided assistance to 429 cases, of which 204 were deemed “nationally significant incidents” – an increase from 89 in the previous 12 months.
18 of them were classified as “highly significant”, meaning they had a serious impact on the government, essential services, the economy or a large part of the UK population.