UK Government at High Risk of ‘Catastrophic’ Cyberattack, Parliament Warns

Margi Murphy
·1 min read

(Bloomberg) -- The UK is at high risk of a “catastrophic” ransomware attack that could bring critical national infrastructure to a standstill and cost the country tens of billions of pounds, according to a parliamentary report.

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Departments responsible for national infrastructure across the government are running outdated systems that put them in danger of a breach, said the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, or JCNSS. The committee, led by Labour politician Margaret Beckett, accused the government of failing to invest in protections ahead of the upcoming general election.

“If the UK is to avoid being held hostage to fortune and avoid electoral interference, it is vital that ransomware becomes a more pressing political priority, and that further substantial resource be devoted to tackling this pernicious threat to the UK’s national security,” according to the report.

Such an attack would wipe out 1.6% of the nation’s gross domestic product and add £29 billion ($36 billion) to government borrowing, a 2022 report from the Office for Budget Responsibility found.

Wednesday’s briefing focused on ransomware, software that hackers use to seize files and systems before demanding payment. Ransomware was responsible for the attack on the UK’s National Health Service in 2017 and Ireland’s Health Service Executive in 2021. In the US, a national state of emergency was declared by President Joe Biden in 2021 after a ransomware attack by Russia-linked cybercriminals shut down Colonial Pipeline, the country’s largest fuel pipeline, for six days.

According to JCNSS, the UK is the second-most ransomware-targeted country, after the US. The majority of this malicious software comes from Russian-speaking perpetrators, it added.

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