Computers specially configured to make cyber criminals think they were small businesses operating in London were attacked by hackers over 2,000 times every minute this January.
The computers – called “honeypots” in the cyber security industry – were operated by cyber insurer Coalition as part of an exercise to assess the volume of cyber attacks directed against the UK’s capital.
The data is being supplied by Coalition to the Cyber Resilience Centre for London, a police-led, not-for-profit organisation working in partnership with the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime.
Data from the honeypots showed that over the course of 28 days in January, the devices were attacked 91 million times by over 101,000 different hackers.
Russia was the single largest source of attacks followed by Bulgaria, Monaco and Panama. However, Coalition’s experts pointed out that many cyber criminals hide their location by mounting attacks using virtual private networks (VPNs) routed through other countries.
Of the 91 million attacks recorded, 77 million were attempts to hack into remote desktop connections used by employees working out of their offices.
“These results show just how much home working has widened businesses’ attack surface – the number of internet connections and vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. 85% of attacks we saw were attempts to gain unauthorised access to these remote connections,” commented Dr Simon Bell, Coalition’s UK security researcher.
“We use honeypots to learn about threat actors and their methods. It’s a little like using decoy car to attract car thieves. Once the attack happens, we can see what vulnerabilities the cyber criminal is looking for and how they try to exploit them. In this exercise, our honeypots were given IP addresses that identified as physical data centres in London,” Bell continued.
“The data supplied by Coalition is incredibly valuable to us as we get real-time insights into the threat landscape of the City, and the latest trends and techniques being deployed by cyber criminals,” said Simon Newman, CEO of the Cyber Resilience Centre for London.
“This allows us to tailor up-to-date guidance for our membership base of SMEs, which make up 99.8% of businesses across the capital. It also helps to illustrate the scale of the threat facing the business community, which in turn supports access to funding and partnerships that allows us to continue our important work,” Newman continued.
Coalition launched in the UK in September last year. The firm offers active cyber insurance: a combination of state-of-the-art cyber security protection combined with cyber insurance. Coalition’s automated scanning and monitoring system Coalition Control scans the internet is real time identifying vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.
Honeypots are computers or devices with vulnerabilities designed to attract cyber attacks so attack methods and routes can be analysed. Coalition runs a global network of honeypots.
About Coalition
By combining comprehensive insurance coverage and cyber-security tools, Coalition helps businesses manage and mitigate digital risks. Coalition offers its Active Insurance products in the U.S., U.K., and Canada through relationships with leading global insurers, including Arch Insurance North America, Allianz, Ascot Group, Lloyd’s of London, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, Vantage, and management liability coverage through Zurich American Insurance Company. Its security products are available to organizations worldwide.
About the Cyber Resilience Centre for London
The Cyber Resilience Centre for London is part of a network of nine regional centres across the country whose role is to support small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and third sector organisations reduce their vulnerability to cyber-crime. The CRC for London is a not-for-profit organisation working in partnership with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, The City of London Police, the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police. They offer a range of services to London’s small business community to help demystify the cyber security landscape, providing access to national intelligence data, free guidance and affordable help to protect them online.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
A Little Behind Schedule, But Execs Say Sypher Insurance is on Track for May Debut 
Depreciation on ACV Is OK, Court Says in Knocking Down Class Action vs. Cincinnati 
Lawsuit Alleges Microbetting Product by DraftKings, FanDuel, NFL Leads to Addiction 
Tennessee Approves Smallest Drop in Workers’ Compensation Costs in Years 
