Britain loses millions to cyberattacks

Thousands of businesses in the UK have been hit by cyberattacks, losing millions and some are facing bankruptcy, with British authorities under pressure to crack down on this new type of crime.

The problem of cyberattacks in the UK is growing, and some companies are already comparing it to the damage during the pandemic, when they were forced to stop working for months. That is why they want the authorities to provide them with financial assistance similar to those during the coronavirus crisis. Otherwise, thousands of people could be left without work.

Empty shelves in stores, delayed flights and trains, stolen personal data. This is how people in the United Kingdom have been living in recent months. The reason – hacker attacks. Even the largest British car manufacturer suffered, sending 30,000 workers on forced leave for more than a month.

“This serious cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover has halted the company’s production and sales, with staff instructed to stay at home. The car factories in Halewood and Solihull, as well as other manufacturing facilities around the world, are unable to operate. Jaguar Land Rover is reported to have shut down its IT systems in response to the attack. Dealers were initially unable to register new cars. Garages that service the company’s vehicles are unable to order the parts they need,” said Derek Twigg MP.

"Yesterday I spoke to a CEO who has 2,000 employees, eight factories and the majority of his business is with Jaguar Land Rover. In the Midlands alone there are probably more than 200,000 people working in the supply chain who are directly affected and I understand that all the factories globally are closed," added another MP, Andrew Mitchell.

The British government is considering buying up some of the output of affected small car parts manufacturers.

"We cannot afford to relax at all. There are big criminals operating in this area, as well as some malicious states, and around 40% of companies in the UK say they have faced cyberattacks in the last year. This is an extremely important issue that we take very seriously," said Deputy Minister for Business and Trade Chris Bryant.

Hackers most often use malware, or so-called ransomware, to restrict companies' access to their IT systems. They do this to instill panic or to demand a ransom from companies so they can continue to use their information networks.

"Paying ransoms to criminals is not a solution. They cannot be trusted and people should be extremely cautious. We do not recommend paying ransoms under any circumstances. It does not solve the problem and actually contributes to the business model of the criminals we want to put behind bars," noted Chris Bryant.

A few days ago, hackers announced that they had stolen the photos, names and addresses of about 8,000 children from the information systems of a chain of daycare centers and demanded a ransom to prevent them from being distributed on the Internet. Before that, a transport company with a 158-year history found itself in the same situation and went bankrupt because it was unable to secure the requested amount.

Nova Television, "Wake Up"