UK businesses were exposed to over 600 cyber-attacks per day in the third quarter of 2017, as hackers targeted remote working technologies in a big way, according to Beaming.
The Hastings-based business ISP claimed that the average UK firm experienced 55,314 attempts to access its data or take control of IT systems in Q3 2017.
That’s down slightly on Q2 figures of 65,000 attacks, in part due to a lull over the summer months.
However, Beaming did record an uptick in attacks targeting remote desktop applications, VoIP telephone systems and virtual private networks (VPNs) over the past three months.
UK firms were subjected to an average of 1842 cyber-attacks seeking to access remote desktop applications in Q3, 540 more than during the previous quarter. There were 586 attacks per business targeting VoIP systems and 73 attempts to access virtual private networks.
“The rates of cyber-attack on internet telephony systems, remote desktop applications and virtual private networks have more than doubled since the start of this year. As more people choose to work remotely, these technologies are becoming increasingly important. They need to be protected properly if they are to create value and not new areas of vulnerability,” said Beaming managing director, Sonia Blizzard.
“Data must be encrypted where it is stored and while travelling across the internet. Strong protections should be put in place to secure company devices and people should be trained on how to avoid the main cybersecurity risks they might be exposed to.”
IoT devices were once again the biggest target for hackers over the past three months. There were over 34,000 attempts to remotely attack and control such devices on average per UK business, amounting to nearly two-thirds (63%) of all attacks.
Company databases were also high on the hit-list, accounting for 16% of all attacks during the period.