Is London the hacking capital of Europe?

The UK is the European country most attacked by cyber-criminals and within the UK London is disproportionately the target, suffering as many breaches as several European countries combined.

The global economic damage caused by cyber-crime is predicted to reach US$6 trillion, by 2021, according to Cybersecurity Ventures.

EC-MSP, a leading London-based IT company, gathered research to produce an infographic showing that the UK has fallen victim to 159 million stolen data records since 2013, more than any other country in Europe and ranking fifth in the world.

Research by IBM last year put the average cost of a data breach to UK businesses (excluding reputational damage) at £3.1 million.

Cyber insurance firm Gallagher pt the total cost of cyber-crime to the UK economy in 2018 at £8.8 billion, up 31 percent on the previous year.

And within the UK, its capital and largest city, London, is by far the country’s primary focus for cyber-crime. Action Fraud, a task force run by the City of London Police, reported that cyber-crime victims lost £34.6 million between April and September 2018.

Roy Castleman, managing director of EC-MSP, advises: "...many of the attacks on businesses can be avoided by taking the correct measures." This can mean updating your systems at the right time, installing the best firewalls, securing Wi-Fi networks or managing passwords effectively. It should also mean regular systems testing and providing ongoing employee training.

source scmagazineuk

Industry: Cyber Security