UK firms battered by one hack attack every 50 seconds

As British Airways and Marriott International chiefs prepare to defend themselves against record GDPR fines, the full scale of the online security challenge has been revealed, with UK businesses facing one cyber-attack every 50 seconds.
According to an analysis from managed services specialist Beaming, UK firms faced an average of 146,491 attempted cyber-attacks in the second quarter of 2019 – a 179% increase over the same period last year; the highest level since Beaming started monitoring attacks in 2016.
Remotely controlled Internet of Things applications and file sharing services were the most likely targets for online cyber-criminals, attracting 201 and 114 attacks per day respectively between April and June.
The report also identified 371,080 unique IUP addresses used to launch cyber attacks on UK businesses in Q2, of which 52,860 – one on seven – were traced to locations in China. A high amount of cyber attack activity also originated in Taiwan, Egypt, Brazil and the US.
Beaming managing director Sonia Blizzard said: “The rate at which UK businesses are attacked online has soared over the last year and companies large and small are under sustained attack from hackers around the world.
“The majority of cyber-attacks on businesses are indiscriminate, malicious code that trawls the web seeking to exploit any weak point in cyber-security systems.”
She concluded: “A single breach can be catastrophic to those involved.” No doubt BA and Marriott bosses would agree with that…