Today, a company that plays a crucial role in Britain’s financial system has been hit by the same threat actor attacking UK’s largest mail delivery service, Royal Mail, just last month, implicating critical operations with a cyberattack:
Lockbit, the group behind the cyber attack against Royal Mail last month, targeted trading software provider Ion Group on Tuesday.
The London-based company plays an integral role in the plumbing that underpins the trading of shares, debt and derivatives in the Square Mile and around the world.
Ion said 42 clients have been affected by the attack as it faces disruption in its cleared derivatives division.
One senior City banker described the attack as a “major incident” that “would take out most of the City if it were to escalate”.
It is understood that some clients could not contact Ion by phone on Tuesday, forcing some to physically travel to the company’s office at St Paul’s to seek answers about the attack.
Oz Alashe MBE, CEO of CybSafe had this to say:
“The beginning of 2023 has been marked by several high-profile security incidents linked to the Lockbit ransomware group. First was the postal and delivery sector with Royal Mail, and now, financial services with Ion Group. Unfortunately, the frequency of these attacks is a trend likely to continue in 2023.
“According to CybSafe’s analysis of ICO cyber incident data, in the 2021-2022 financial year, the financial services and insurance sector accounted for 12% of total cyber attacks. More notably, the number of ransomware attacks has increased by 12% to represent 35% of all cyber attacks within the sector.
“Financial services are fundamental to the economy. While cyber security is a top priority for many organizations within the sector, more can and must be done. The days of viewing cyber security as an annual tick-box exercise must end. To adequately address the threat level, cyber security must become an ongoing process within financial services. Employees want to be part of the solution. Therefore the onus is on businesses to equip their employees with the right tools and education to display positive security behaviors and protect data.”
I am concerned that this will continue to be a trend into 2023, and businesses of all sorts really need to look at the threat landscape and prepare themselves for the attacks that are sure to come. As demonstrated by this case, these attacks can be devastating.
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This entry was posted on February 1, 2023 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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London Trading Software Provider Pwned By Lockbit
Today, a company that plays a crucial role in Britain’s financial system has been hit by the same threat actor attacking UK’s largest mail delivery service, Royal Mail, just last month, implicating critical operations with a cyberattack:
Lockbit, the group behind the cyber attack against Royal Mail last month, targeted trading software provider Ion Group on Tuesday.
The London-based company plays an integral role in the plumbing that underpins the trading of shares, debt and derivatives in the Square Mile and around the world.
Ion said 42 clients have been affected by the attack as it faces disruption in its cleared derivatives division.
One senior City banker described the attack as a “major incident” that “would take out most of the City if it were to escalate”.
It is understood that some clients could not contact Ion by phone on Tuesday, forcing some to physically travel to the company’s office at St Paul’s to seek answers about the attack.
Oz Alashe MBE, CEO of CybSafe had this to say:
“The beginning of 2023 has been marked by several high-profile security incidents linked to the Lockbit ransomware group. First was the postal and delivery sector with Royal Mail, and now, financial services with Ion Group. Unfortunately, the frequency of these attacks is a trend likely to continue in 2023.
“According to CybSafe’s analysis of ICO cyber incident data, in the 2021-2022 financial year, the financial services and insurance sector accounted for 12% of total cyber attacks. More notably, the number of ransomware attacks has increased by 12% to represent 35% of all cyber attacks within the sector.
“Financial services are fundamental to the economy. While cyber security is a top priority for many organizations within the sector, more can and must be done. The days of viewing cyber security as an annual tick-box exercise must end. To adequately address the threat level, cyber security must become an ongoing process within financial services. Employees want to be part of the solution. Therefore the onus is on businesses to equip their employees with the right tools and education to display positive security behaviors and protect data.”
I am concerned that this will continue to be a trend into 2023, and businesses of all sorts really need to look at the threat landscape and prepare themselves for the attacks that are sure to come. As demonstrated by this case, these attacks can be devastating.
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This entry was posted on February 1, 2023 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.