UK Warns CEOs of Cyber Threat After 50% Spike in Big Attacks

The U.K. urged corporate bosses to protect their businesses against cyber attacks, after a spate of high-profile incidents targeting companies from Jaguar Land Rover to Marks and Spencer Group Plc that it said represent just a fraction of the known threats.

“Recent high-profile cyber incidents show how attacks can seriously disrupt operations and damage profitability,” ministers including Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Peter Kyle said in the letter Tuesday to chief executive officers and chairs of FTSE 350 companies.

The warning from government came as Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre reported a significant increase in major cyberattacks by criminals and hostile states over the last year. It said it had dealt with 429 cyber incidents in the 12 months through the end of August, categorizing nearly half of those as “nationally significant,” meaning it was responding to four such incidents a week.

Some 18 of the cases were classed by the NCSC as “highly significant,” having a “serious impact” on central government, essential services or the UK economy. It said that represented a 50% increase on the previous year.

The data, revealed by NCSC chief Richard Horne in a speech Tuesday, suggests the threat to corporate Britain goes well beyond the recent public cases.

“Over the past few weeks and months we have seen household names impacted by cyber incidents across all sectors of the economy, from retail to manufacturing and transport,” according to Horne’s speech. “Those are just the incidents that have made the headlines.”

‘Strategic Foreign Interference’

In August, Jaguar Land Rover was hit by a major cyberattack that led to the company shutting down manufacturing sites around the world. The disruption, which has likely cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, has spread throughout its supply chain, threatening thousands of jobs.

In an unprecedented move, the U.K. government stepped in, agreeing to guarantee a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) emergency loan so the company can pay its suppliers.

A cyberattack on a key provider of airline check-in and boarding systems snarled travel at major European airports including London’s Heathrow in September, forcing staff to process passengers manually and triggering delays and cancellations.

In April, hackers struck Marks and Spencer’s, costing the retailer an estimated £300 million. Meanwhile, the Co-op supermarket chain estimated a £206 million underlying margin impact from a cyberattack earlier in the year.

The U.K. government’s handing of national security issues is under scrutiny following the collapse of an espionage case involving two men accused of spying for China. Horne previously named China as the dominant threat to cybersecurity in Britain.

On Monday, MI5, the U.K.’s domestic security service, warned politicians and their staff that they are being targeted by spies from China, Russia and Iran in efforts geared toward undermining British democracy.

“The U.K. is a target of long-term strategic foreign interference and espionage from elements of the Russian, Chinese and Iranian states which, in different ways, seek to further their economic and strategic interests and cause harm to our democratic institutions,” MI5 said.

Top photo: A Jaguar motor vehicle on the outside of the Jaguar Land Rover vehicle manufacturing plant in Castle Bromwich, U.K., on Sept. 26.