Cyber_Bytes - Issue 28

Welcome to latest edition of Cyber_Bytes, our bi-weekly roundup of key developments in cyber, tech and evolving risks.

Cyber Insurance Market Projected to Surge in 2021 

The global insurance market is projected to grow by 21% in 2021 to reach $9.5 billion dollars according to Finaria.it and it is projected to reach $20 billion dollars by 2025. This is driven by the increasing awareness of cyber as a core business threat and the shift to remote working. The research also shows breaches related to the health care sector tended to be the most expensive at $7 million dollars per incident followed by energy, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and technology. Equally there are plenty of opportunities for Insurers to provide solutions where in the context of the UK more than 80% of businesses still don't have cyber related insurance.     

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2020 Cost of Ransomware and Cyber-Extortion Payments Double  

Two thirds of cyber attacks in 2020 were primarily motivated by financial gain according to security firm CrowdStrike. 81% of attackers used ransomware to achieve their goal and the number of cyber extortions demands being paid has doubled in the last year. This comes off the back of a steady increase in such demands in the last few years. Running a ransomware campaign is becoming more commoditized and it seems are increasingly likely to look to leverage the reputational impact of incidents to extract payments.

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Two Sentenced to Prison following a Prosecution Brought by the ICO 

Two individuals have been sentenced to eight months in prison and suspended for two years in a prosecution brought by the ICO under the computer misuse act. The first individual compiled road traffic accident data from her employer without permission and sold it to the second individual who was a director of an accident claims management firm. The details were then used to make nuisance calls to potential claimants. 

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Cyber Criminals attempt to scam the public using the Covid 19 Vaccine roll out

The National Cyber Security Centre issued its weekly threat report on the 15 January. The report raises concerns of cyber criminals wanting to scam the public by taking advantage of the Covid 19 vaccine roll out. The scam comes in the form of an email or text message using the lure of being vaccinated to trick victims in to sharing their personal details.

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Data Breach Suffered by Mimecast   

The email security provider Mimecast whose products are designed to reduce phishing attacks recently announced that hackers had hijacked its products in order to monitor their customers with approximately 10% of its more than 36,000 customers being affected. The vulnerability related to the digital certificate used to guard connections between its products and Microsoft's cloud services.   

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Reform proposals of the criminal law concerning communications offences 

The law commission has made a number of proposals for the reform of the criminal law around communications offences. The proposals include an offence for criminal behavior where a communication would likely cause harm and covers emails, social media, and WhatsApp messages. The law society has agreed with the proposals for reform but has stressed the importance for the right of freedom of expression and privacy.    

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