Report warns UK at risk of ‘catastrophic’ ransomware attack on critical national infrastructure 

Responsibility for tackling ransomware should be transferred from the Home Office to the Cabinet Office, a UK parliamentary report recommended, as it warned of ‘a high risk that the Government will face a catastrophic ransomware attack at any moment.’

Accusing the Home Office of prioritising issues such as ‘illegal immigration and small boats’ over cybersecurity, the report warned that ‘vulnerabilities’ in the UK critical national infrastructure (‘CNI’) mean that ‘a coordinated and targeted attack has the potential to take down large parts of UK CNI and public services, causing severe damage to the economy and to everyday life in the UK.’

The report, ordered by both houses of the UK Parliament and titled A hostage to fortune: ransomware and UK national security, suggested that such an attack could come from Russia.

‘The majority of ransomware attacks against the UK are from Russian-speaking perpetrators, and the Russian Government’s tacit (or even explicit) approval of this activity is consistent with the Kremlin’s disruptive, zero-sum-game approach to the West,’ according to the report, published 13 December.

‘In line with many other aspects of cyber security, and to ensure that it is treated as a cross-government national security priority, responsibility for tackling ransomware should be transferred from the Home Office to the Cabinet Office,’ in partnership with the National Cyber Security Centre (‘NCSC’) and National Crime Agency (‘NCA’) and should also be overseen directly by the deputy prime minister, the report recommended.

‘There is a high risk that the Government will face a catastrophic ransomware attack at any moment, and that its planning will be found lacking,’ the report cautioned.  ‘If the UK is to avoid being held hostage to fortune, it is vital that ransomware becomes a more pressing political priority, and that more resources are devoted to tackling this pernicious threat to the UK’s national security,’ it added.

https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/42493/documents/211438/default/