Cyber Reports

Cyber attacks in Q2 2021

Cyber attacks in Q2 2021 fall for first time since 2018 as people return to workplaces
Large numbers of cyberattacks traced to locations in China, USA, India and Russia
Expert urges caution and warns ‘new normal’ work practices are ‘inherently insecure’

The number of cyberattacks on UK companies fell for the first time in almost three years during the second quarter of 2021, according to our research.

Beaming’s analysis of commercial internet traffic reveals that businesses experienced 160,610 attempts each to breach their online systems between April and June, on average, the equivalent of an attack every 49 seconds.

This rate of cyberattacks was nine percent lower than the same period in 2020 and represented the first year-on-year decline in malicious web activity since 2018. Attack levels are now similar to Q1 2020 when UK businesses experienced 157,020 attacks each, on average.

‘Attacks have fallen to near pre-pandemic levels as more people returned to their workplaces, but businesses are still in the firing line and face new attacks every minute. We continue to urge caution.’

Sonia Blizzard, Managing Director of Beaming

Sonia Blizzard, managing director of Beaming, said:

“Cyberattacks on businesses surged when the UK went into lockdown last year as criminals sensed the opportunity to take advantage of under-protected home workers.”

“Cyber attacks in Q2 2021 have fallen to near pre-pandemic levels as more people returned to their workplaces, but businesses are still in the firing line and face new attacks every minute. We continue to urge caution.

“Home and hybrid working remains a permanent fixture for lots of firms. Many of their people will access company data and IT systems via personal devices and unmanaged domestic internet connections.

“These new normal working practices are inherently insecure and increase the risk of a breach. Firms that haven’t upped their cybersecurity game should do so now, especially if they allow home working.”

Large numbers of cyber attacks in Q2 2021 traced to locations in China, USA, India and Russia

Beaming cybersecurity analysts identified 305,455 unique IP addresses used to launch online cyber attacks on UK businesses during the second quarter of 2021. We traced 48,726 of these to locations in China and also identified large numbers of IP addresses in the USA (30,360), India (17,692) and Russia (11,978) as the source of attacks on UK firms.

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More cyber threat analysis

Q1 2021 Cyber Threat Report

Commercial cyberattacks are up 11 per cent year-on-year, with businesses hit every 45 seconds.

2020 Cyber Threat Analysis

2020 was the busiest year on record for cyber attacks on UK companies. The volume of attacks surged as the UK went into lockdown for the first time and remained exceptionally high.

Q3 2020 Cyber Threat Report

IoT devices such as networked printers and security cameras, file-sharing applications and company databases were the most frequent targets in our Q3 2020 Cyber Threat Report

Cyber Threat Report Q2 2020

The volume of cyber attacks on UK businesses increased after the country went into lockdown and reached unprecedented levels in the second quarter of 2020.

Cyber Threat Report Q1 2020

The volume of cyber attacks on UK businesses increased by almost a third in the first three months of 2020.

Cyber attacks fall as UK returns to work