Cyber threats against the Office for Budget Responsibility have over doubled in the past 12 months, ahead of Rachel Reeves’ crunch Autumn Budget.
On November 26th, Reeves is set to announce a wave of economic policies to fight against the high cost of borrowing in the UK, with hints of income tax and inheritance tax hikes on the horizon.
The Office for Budget Responsibility provides an independent analysis of the UK’s public finances, from which the Chancellor of the Exchequer bases economic policy decisions.
Blocked email attacks
The data was retrieved under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, and analysed by the Parliament Street think tank, observing the number of blocked email attacks by the department each year for the past few years.
Rejections spiked to 238,678 over the past 12 months, up from 90,958 the year before, with threats rising 162 per cent.
Commenting on the findings, Andy Ward, SVP International for cybersecurity firm Absolute Security, said: “Cyber risks are heightened in the lead up to big events like the Budget, with cybercriminals targetting confidential economic forecasts and spending plans which could be used to influence markets.”
Most common cyber risk
“As reported by the government, phishing is the most common cyber risk facing organisations such as the OBR. Our latest research found that 60% of security leaders indicated they expect cyber-attacks to increase in the next 12 months and this spike is almost entirely driven by human-centric exploitation,” continued Andy Ward.
“When these types of events are approaching, it’s vital to batten down the hatches and ramp up security to prevent sensitive data from being stolen and to have capabilities in place that quickly restore critical business operations after an incident."
Data from the National Cyber Security Centre recently highlighted that the UK is facing four “nationally significant” cyber-attacks each week, with the potential to have a serious impact on essential services. The volume of significant attacks has risen for the third year in a row, with the NCSC warning organisations to take concrete action to protect themselves.