New study shows there has been a ‘dramatic’ increase in cyberattacks against the energy sector, particularly targeting gas and electricity utilities.

Citing the 2017 UK Cloud Snapshot Survey, TheBusinessDesk.com said one in four of these utility companies suffered a rise in breaches in the past 12 months. International criminal gangs are accused of perpetrating the attacks.

The survey – conducted by University of Birmingham researchers in collaboration with IT consultancy Serviceteam – found that insurance and marketing firms are also exposed, with 34% of them reporting having suffered a cyberattack.

What’s common among these companies is the massive amount of customer data they possess – precisely what the cyber criminals are after, according to the report.

“Within the energy sector the findings were dramatic,” Serviceteam chief executive Sebastian Jesson-Ward was quoted as saying. “We discovered evidence of overseas cyber criminals attempting to gain access into gas and electricity utilities to steal customer data.”

He added: “We work closely with the utilities industry and they are reporting an almost daily occurrence of attacks.”

The survey involved more than 1,000 respondents.


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