Esentire announced the release of its U.K. Threat Intelligence Spotlight, an inaugural report that details the unique threat landscape that small and medium enterprises must contend with in the United Kingdom (U.K.).
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Over the last two years, eSentire’s European business has grown over 90%, with the bulk of its expansion coming from customers within the U.K.
This broadened customer footprint has provided eSentire’s Security Operations Centers (SOCs) in Cork, Ireland and Waterloo Region, Canada with a sample size of data that allows for an in-depth examination of the threats facing U.K. businesses and a benchmarking of how they compare to similar companies around the world.
The critical takeaway from eSentire’s U.K. Threat Intelligence Spotlight is that the global growth in botnet activity drove a 140% year-over-year increase in the number of cybersecurity incidents experienced U.K. businesses.
This increase in attack traffic caused nearly 40% of small and medium enterprises in the U.K to experience at least one cybersecurity incident.
Phishing campaigns simulating the look and feel of Dropbox’s email and website were the most successful type of phishing lure in the U.K.
Marketing agencies are prime targets for cyberattacks, as they often will be contracted to work on campaigns well in advance of the release of a new product.
The information secured from a successful attack could be sold to competitors or used to conduct insider trading.
The fact that, at a rate level, marketing and manufacturing industries actually experience more successful cyber-attacks underscores the need for all industries in the U.K. to take a harder look at their cybersecurity posture, even when regulations are not forcing them to do so.
U.K. companies had a high percentage of exploit attacks compared to the global average.
27% of U.K. businesses experienced at least attempted exploit attacks between February 2018 and February 2019. ■
A robust atmospheric river will continue to dump overly abundant moisture across the Pacific Northwest which in turn will keep the threat for excessive rainfall and flooding elevated through Thursday.