State-backed cyber attack costs Company over £800 million, according to MI5 reports.
Yesterday, during the Lord Mayor of London's annual security lecture, the director general of the UK's security service, Jonathan Evans, issued a stern warning about the growing threat of state-backed cyber attacks on businesses.
Evans highlighted that the front line in cyber security is as much in business as it is in government. He emphasised that state-backed commercial espionage is not a new phenomenon, citing historical examples such as Robert Fortune, who stole the secret of making tea from China for the East India Company.
In a shocking revelation, Evans revealed that a London-listed company suffered a loss of £800 million due to a state-backed cyber attack. Despite efforts to maintain confidentiality, the name of the affected company remains undisclosed in the available search results.
The intellectual property and commercially sensitive information of companies and corporations are under threat from these attacks. According to Evans, what is at stake includes the safety and security of infrastructure, intellectual property, and commercially sensitive information.
Evans warned that businesses are as much the target of state-backed cyber attacks as government organisations. He explained that most of these attacks are initiated by fooling employees into clicking malicious links or downloading malware attachments.
Henry Harrison, technical director at BAE Systems Detica, echoed Evans' concerns, stating that such attacks designed to steal intellectual property or commercially sensitive information are common. He added that these attacks are not limited to major industrial companies but also target foreign subsidiaries and suppliers of professional services.
The future prosperity of the UK, Evans argued, is underpinned by intellectual property, which is at risk from state-backed cyber attacks. He urged businesses to take cyber security seriously and invest in robust defences to protect their assets.
An example of a sophisticated state-backed cyber attack involved compromising an angling website that an executive at a company frequently visited. While the specifics of this attack are not yet fully understood, it serves as a reminder of the potential risks businesses face in the digital age.
Evans' warning comes as a wake-up call for businesses to strengthen their cyber defences and recognise the threat from state-backed cyber attacks. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, so too must our defences against these increasingly sophisticated threats.
