The UK government advises organizations to prepare for cyber-attacks by maintaining physical, offline copies of their plans and adopting resilience strategies to ensure operational continuity amid increasing significant cyber incidents, including recent high-profile hacks affecting major retailers and healthcare providers.
Luxury department store Harrods suffered a data breach affecting 430,000 customer records, primarily basic personal information, but no payment details or passwords were compromised. The store is cooperating with authorities and has not engaged with the hackers, who contacted the firm post-breach. This incident is part of a broader trend of cyber-attacks on UK businesses this year.
A UK transport company, KNP, was destroyed after hackers guessed an employee's weak password, leading to data encryption and the company's collapse, highlighting the increasing threat of ransomware attacks on businesses and the need for improved cybersecurity measures.
The UK government announced a 10-year industrial strategy aimed at reducing energy costs for over 7,000 businesses by exempting them from certain green energy levies, potentially lowering bills by up to 25%, and supporting economic growth through various measures including skills development, innovation funding, and sector-specific plans.