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What security breaches have happened recently? Get your 2023 cyber attack round-up

Kelsey Smith

September 25th, 2023

Research by Sophos shows that 94% of 3,000 cyber security and IT leaders experienced some form of a cyber attack or security breach in 2022.

The UK registered the highest number of cyber attacks throughout Europe in 2022, according to the latest IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence report. This shows the increasing need for action to be taken against threat actors, but how do we know what action to take?

By reviewing the biggest cyber attacks of the year, we can see common types of attack, recurring risks, and the most effective solutions.

What security breaches have happened recently?

December 2022 – the Guardian

In December 2022 and January 2023, The Guardian newspaper experienced a highly sophisticated cyber attack, during which unauthorised third parties gained access to parts of their network. Following an extensive investigation conducted by the cyber security organisation Knowbe4, it was determined that the attack was initiated through a phishing campaign via email. Threat actors tricked an employee into giving out access details.

Due to this, The Guardian’s employees had to work remotely for two months while the company worked to restore its systems. The breach resulted in the compromise of certain staff information, including salary details, bank account information, and even passport numbers.

January 2023 – Royal Mail

On the 12th January 2023, Royal Mail announced it was the victim of a cyber incident involving the Russian ransomware gang LockBit. They experienced severe service disruption, halting overseas shipping and causing minor national delays.

March 2023 – WHSmith

In March 2023, WHSmith faced a cyber attack in which threat actors managed to access and leak sensitive employee information. The accessed information included employee names, addresses, national insurance numbers, and dates of birth.

June 2023 – MOVEit file transfer zero-day vulnerability

On the 1st June 2023, a vulnerability that had been used to breach at least 160 victims (by June 30th) was found. This was the result of a successful mass extorsion campaign by the CIOp ransomware group. Global organisations including Siemens, UCLA, British Airways, and Avast were all breached.

What actions need to be taken? 

Cyber attacks can be difficult to prevent. By taking action quickly, your organisation will be in a better position to stop and remediate attacks before they have a major effect on your systems. Understanding the most common type of cyber attack and the best way to manage them is the first step.

The research by Sophos shows around 23% of businesses were victims of ransomware, while the most popular types of attack were phishing (27%), data exfiltration (26%) and cyber extortion (24%).

Our cyber security specialists support organisations across all sectors and industries to secure against security vulnerabilities with cyber security software, processes, prevention and remediation support, and cyber security training for employees and end-users.

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  • The SOC dealt with 300 tickets which were confirmed as suspicious activity
  • Average response time was 22 minutes
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