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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Robert Booth UK technology editor

Cyber-attacks rise by 50% in past year, UK security agency says

A close-up on an abstract design of a display. Multiple rows of hexadecimal code are interrupted by red glowing warning text. Part of the display is reflected on a shiny surface.
Security chiefs have issued ‘a call to arms’ urging organisations with an online presence to develop contingency plans. Photograph: Matejmo/Getty Images/iStockphoto

“Highly significant” cyber-attacks rose by 50% in the past year and the UK’s security services are now dealing with a new nationally significant attack more than every other day, figures from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have revealed.

In what officials described as “a call to arms”, national security officials and ministers are urging all organisations, from the smallest businesses to the largest employers, to draw up contingency plans for the eventuality that “your IT infrastructure [is] crippled tomorrow and all your screens [go] blank”.

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