From aviation and energy, to finance and central government, Bridewell research reveals 57% of organisations in five key CNI sectors have experienced a ransomware attack in the last year.
A significant proportion (57%) of organisations across central government, civil aviation, energy, transport (rail and road combined) and finance have experienced a ransomware attack in the past 12 months, with data theft and loss among the most serious consequences.
This is according to the latest research by Bridewell, which has surveyed 521 staff responsible for cybersecurity at UK critical national infrastructure (CNI) organisations.
The dual attack threat
Ransomware attacks have significant implications for critical infrastructure sectors. In aviation, downtime from an attack could cause major disruption to flights, while in financial services, failure to act could leave organisations falling foul of strict compliance rules.
Central government organisations have been most significantly affected by ransomware attacks over the past 12 months, with more than six-in-ten (63%) reporting an attack, closely followed by civil aviation (61%) and energy (60%).
In addition to the growing ransomware threat, phishing attacks are also widespread. On average, each of the five sectors faced 16 phishing attacks over the last year, with the road industry experiencing the most (21).
Delayed response
Given these significant consequences, industries are struggling to react quickly to cyber-incidents and mitigate the damage they cause.
The research revealed that responses to phishing attacks can take anywhere from just over five hours, with financial services taking on average 10.70 hours to act. Responses to ransomware can also take anywhere from six to 14 hours, the latter in the energy industry.
Nation-state attacks also remain a key concern. Road organisations take an average of 19.56 hours to respond to nation-state attacks, which continue to escalate as Russian, Chinese, Iranian and North Korean-affiliated threat actors escalate their efforts. These are closely followed by the energy (18.77) and aviation (18.21) sectors.
Future-proofing CNI
In order to deal with these concerns, organisations are actively enhancing their cybersecurity measures. Across each of the five sectors, almost all organisations (94%) are now leveraging AI-driven tools, including AI-enhanced endpoint protection, automated incident response solutions and network behaviour analysis. On average, 52% of organisations from across the five sectors plan to increase their IT security spend compared to last year.
“Our research shows ransomware, phishing and malware remain highly potent, but are only part of the wide range of threats confronting the UK’s critical national infrastructure (CNI) organisations,” said Anthony Young, Chief Executive Officer at Bridewell.
“Organisations must invest to fortify their defences against mutating threats. Yet they need to be sure they combine innovative technology with human expertise and tested methodologies so they can remain at the cutting-edge without compromising business as usual. Investment is vital to ensure the best possible protection for organisations critical to the UK’s wellbeing.”
