October 2023 had 114 cyber incidents, accounting for more than 867 million records.

This compares to 3.8 billion in September, 79 million in August, 146 million in July, 14 million in June, 98 million in May, 4.3 million in April, 42 million in March and 29.5 million in February, but it still doesn’t come close to the astounding 277.6 million records breached in January 2024. This takes the year’s total to over 5.3 million records.

September saw the biggest data breach of the year by miles, when digital risk protection company DarkBeam exposed an astounding 3.8 billion records.

Here’s the other top stories you need to read:

The demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals has never been higher

The UK government has released a report on the cyber security skills in the UK labour market.

  • 50% of all UK businesses have basic cyber security skills gap.
  • There is an estimated shortfall of 11,200 people to meet the demand of the growing cyber workforce.
  •  Only 17% of the cyber sector workforce is female (down from 22% last year) and 14% of senior roles are filled by women.

The ten most common cyber security misconfigurations

According to research from the NSA and CISA, systemic weaknesses in large organizations are “all too common” and leveraged by multiple malicious actors. They identified the ten most common network vulnerabilities over the years, including improper separation of user/administrator privilege and insufficient internal network monitoring.

UK law firms under attack

UK law firms are becoming priority targets for cyberattacks, according to the latest National Cyber Security Centre report. Law firms and solicitors must act now to protect their systems from breach and prevent their wealth of data from being stolen.

Software businesses targeted by cyber criminals

Software businesses are firmly in the sights of cyber criminals, and despite spending tens of thousands on defences, there is a widespread acceptance that more money needs to be spent to improve data protection.

Ransomware trends

Since July 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has noticed two key ransomware trends from cybercriminals: dual ransomware attacks on the same victim, occurring in close proximity of one another and new data destruction tactics. Companies need to keep security training up-to-date and ensure staff are aware of processes to keep data safe.

Cyber co-operation

An international cohort of cybersecurity councils, co-chaired by the head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), have met to discuss the challenges and cyber threats facing society to date. By working together, this global coalition aims to tackle the challenges faced by democracies against bad actors and cyber criminals.

The danger of the Internet of Things

Can labelling make smart devices more cybersecure? Around 672 million households are expected to use smart home devices by 2027, but the security of these devices can vary. With reports of smart devices being attacked on the rise, these devices that are meant to provide convenience are in fact adding stress to many consumers’ lives.

Government warned of ‘major’ cyber attack.

The government is warned of a ‘major’ cyberattack by Russian and Chinese hackers if they keep ignoring warnings to fix HMRC’s crumbling computer system.

The security warning in the tax authority’s annual accounts, uncovered by The Independent, states the outdated tech could lead to a “major IT failure or security breach” that could “harm our business operations permanently”. It ranks the risk and impact of such a breakdown as “high” and warns a cyberattack or malfunction is becoming more likely.