NCSC fended off 658 cyber attacks in last 12 months

Many attacks originated from hostile nation states

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has revealed it helped prevent over 600 cyber attacks over the last year, bringing the total halted to almost 1800 since the centre’s formation in 2016.

In its third annual review, the NCSC laid out the various ways it has been protecting the public from cyber scares, including an operation that stopped hundreds of thousands of people from falling victim to credit card fraud. Named Operation Haulster, the program automatically identified fraudulent intent against over a million stolen credit cards.

In addition, the centre’s anti-phishing campaign took down 177,335 phishing URLs over the last year, 62.4 percent of which were removed within 24 hours. Since the NCSC’s formation in 2016, the UK’s share of global phishing attacks has reduced from 5.31 percent to 2.1 percent.

The centre also revealed that its Indicator of Compromise machine, designed to improve the efficiency of threat information sharing, has reduced the process from a matter of hours to just seconds.

“Since it went live this year, the technology has enabled a tenfold increase of vital indicators the NCSC shares with external internet service providers and industry partners. This now means that in an average month more than 1,000 vital indicators are being shared at the click of a button,” reads the report.

The sectors most at risk from cyber attacks are the government, followed by academia, IT, managed service providers and – in joint fifth – health and transport.

NCSC Chief Executive Ciaran Martin said the organisation can help to make the UK the ‘safest country to live and work online’.

“This review gives a real insight into the breadth of outstanding work done by the NCSC and underlines why we are a world leader in cyber security,” he added.

“From handling more than 600 incidents – many from hostile nation states – to equipping the public with the tools they need to stay safe online, we are employing our expertise on a number of fronts.”