As we wave goodbye to 2024, we can look back and know there was one constant during the past 12 months – that cyber security attacks were as prevalent as ever.
Cyber criminals are forever finding new, innovative ways to inflict damage, often leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Heading into the new year, it is up to businesses, organisations and individuals to continue fighting back, to ensure they are as safe as they can be going into 2025 and beyond.
Here, we take a look back at 2024 and, with a little twist, hand out our Black Swan Cyber Security Awards, in the hope we can protect ourselves and our clients as much as possible from further threats.
So, without further ado…
The ‘Top Cyber Security Story of the Year Award’
Unfortunately, it could be a case of take your pick from the thousands of cyber security stories we heard of during the year.
From the NHS which, in one particular case, suffered a major ransomware attack that severely disrupted healthcare services in London, to continued threats from China and Russia, there are plenty to choose from.
However, our award for the top story of the year goes to the cyber attack on the Billericay School.
During their half-term holiday in May, the Essex school experienced a significant cyber attack that resulted in their IT systems being compromised and inaccessible, forcing the school to temporarily close.
The breach saw names, addresses and medical notes of students, as well as contact details of parents and carers, potentially accessed by the attackers.
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office, figures show that, in the education and childcare sector, 347 cyber incidents were reported in 2023, a huge increase of 55% from 2022.
Clearly, the education sector is under increasing threat, highlighting how crucial it is for them to ensure their cyber security solutions are as robust as possible.
Takeaway: Discover here how Black Swan can safeguard your school’s sensitive data, protect vital systems, and ensure compliance with DfE guidelines.
The ‘Still Essential Even After 10 Years Award’
Of course, this award goes to Cyber Essentials, which this year celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Still going strong after a decade, and still as valuable and fundamental as ever, Cyber Essentials was born out of the need to protect businesses and organisations from the growing threat of cyber attacks.
What its 10th anniversary taught us was that, even though nearly 190,000 certificates have been issued to date, there remains plenty of businesses and organisations who are not certified, and are therefore not protecting themselves as robustly as they could or should.
Indeed, the National Cyber Security Centre continues to urge more businesses to strengthen their cyber security protections, a call for action we wholly support.
Takeaway: Black Swan can help you achieve your Cyber Essentials Certification, a vital step in demonstrating your commitment to cyber security. Discover more here.
The ‘It Couldn’t Happen To Me, Could It? Award’
It’s easy for seemingly ‘smaller’ organisations, such as councils, to think they are safe from cyber attacks. However, that is far from the case.
In 2024 alone, Portsmouth City Council, Tameside Council, Salford City Council and Middlesbrough Council were among local authorities to be targeted by cyber attacks.
The common link was that these were distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which flood websites with traffic.
The warning here is that councils are being further encouraged to take note of current cyber security guidance in light of such heightened threats.
If it can happen to authorities as large as the councils mentioned here, what’s to say smaller parish councils are not also at risk?
After all, they also often handle personal data, financial information, and local records – assets cyber criminals would love to exploit.
Takeaway: Black Swan solutions are designed to shield you from phishing attacks, malware and ransomware while keeping you compliant with regulatory requirements. Discover how to protect your council here.
The ‘Act Now, Don’t Leave It Late Award’
The UK is on a cyber war footing. In his first speech as the head of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre, Richard Horne warned in December that we are underestimating the severity of risk to our infrastructure due to cyber attacks from hostile states.
Horne explained how hostile activity in UK cyberspace has increased in “frequency, sophistication and intensity” from enemies who want to cause maximum disruption and destruction.
With a trebling of “severe” incidents amid Russian “aggression and recklessness” and China’s “highly sophisticated” digital operations, Horne’s comments led to some experts to use it as an opportunity to call on companies and public sector organisations to wake up to the scale of the cyber threat facing the UK.
They are sentiments that Black Swan fully agree with. Whatever your business or organisation, however big or small, now is the time to act.
Takeaway: Don’t get caught off guard – keep your organisation in calm waters with a partner who understands cyber threats. Discover here how Black Swan can help you.
A new year, a new beginning
We hope you found our ‘awards’ helpful and informative. Whatever the future holds in 2025, Black Swan are ready and waiting to help steer you through some potentially difficult times ahead.
If you’d like to learn more about the solutions we offer, or even just a chat about your options, we’re here for you.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us by giving us a call on 01246 927142, or email us at hello@blackswancyber.co.uk For all our contact details, see here.
