The UK handled 16 per cent more cyber security incidents in 2024 than in the previous 12 months.
In his first speech, Richard Horne the new head of the National Cyber Security Centre, said hostile activity in UK cyberspace has increased in frequency, sophistication and intensity.
The incident management team at the NCSC handled 430 incidents in 2024, compared to 371 the previous year, the agency said in the statement.
Of those, 347 involved some level of data exfiltration – the intentional, unauthorised, covert transfer of data from a computer or other device – while 20 involved ransomware, said the NCSC, which is part of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency.
The team issued 542 bespoke notifications informing organisations of a cyber incident impacting them and providing advice on mitigation, more than double the 258 notifications issued last year.
In its annual review, the NCSC said ransomware attacks posed “the most immediate and disruptive” threat to critical infrastructure like energy, water, transportation, health and telecommunications.
The review also warned of the potential of hackers to exploit AI to create more advanced cyber attacks, stating:.
“We believe the severity of the risk facing the UK is being widely underestimated,” Mr Horne said.
“There is no room for complacency about the severity of state-led threats or the volume of the threat posed by cyber criminals.”
*Information from
