The UK government has been urged to stop criminals from carrying out malicious software attacks with “impunity”, after research revealed that hacks using a new and aggressive form of ransomware increased 200 per cent last year.
The study by the Royal United Services Institute think-tank and cyber specialists at BAE Systems warned that ransomware use is “spiralling out of control”, with Britain suffering the second-highest number of “double extortion” attacks after the US.
All types of ransomware hack — in which cyber criminals encrypt data systems and demand a fee to unfreeze them — have boomed during the coronavirus pandemic, as remote working has eroded cyber defences.