Businesses banned from paying hackers' ransoms to target cybercrime
• UK under assault as number of 'significant' cyberattacks doubles
Ransomware is the biggest cyber threat faced by Britain. Hackers cripple a system after getting access and threaten to publish sensitive information unless they are paid in cryptocurrency — known as 'double extortion'.Recent hacks on the retail sector that targeted Marks & Spencer, The Co-Operative Group and Harrods highlighted the damage such operations can do. M&S put the cost of the attack at £300 million.
Last year NHS hospitals in London had to cancel procedures and operations after a pathology lab was hacked, contributing to the death of one person, one of the first fatalities linked to cybercrime.The public sector currently has a de-facto ban on ransoms, so the most far reaching measure in the updated laws will require businesses or organisations not covered by any ban to seek approval for paying hackers.They would then be provided with advice and support and would be stopped from paying any sanctioned groups, many of whom are based in Russia.
• UK is No 1 target for Russian cyberattacks since Trump's election
Organisations involved in critical national infrastructure, which encompasses 13 sectors such as chemicals, food, communications and data centres, will also not be allowed to pay.Leaders of the Co-Op said they did not pay any ransom but the chairman of M&S could not make a similar statement when questioned by MPs this month.The hacks have been linked to the Scattered Spider and DragonForce groups and four people have been arrested.
Shirine Khoury-Haq, the Co-Op CEO, said the laws were 'a step in the right direction for building a safer digital future.'
• M&S bosses under fire after 'damaging and embarrassing' cyberattack
Experts also welcomed the measures. Ciaran Martin, former chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, called it 'a very positive step' . He added: 'It ends the damaging nonsense where criminals can get lucratively paid in secret: the authorities can't help if they don't know about something. How it's implemented is crucial but it deserves support.'Alan Woodward, professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University, said: 'All of this will undermine the criminals' business model. Hopefully it should show the criminals there is no point in attacking UK based targets. I don't imagine it will cause an immediate drop off but it should cause a progressive slow down.'Jamie MacColl, senior research fellow in cyber and tech at the Royal United Services Institute, said it was 'a sign that the government is taking ransomware more seriously'.However, he added: 'I remain sceptical that the partial ransom payment ban for the public sector and critical national infrastructure is going to have the desired effect and make the UK a less attractive target for cybercriminals.
'Ransomware is a largely an opportunistic crime and most cybercriminals are not discerning. I can't see most cybercriminals taking a limited UK payment ban into account for their operating models. It would probably take a full payment ban to make the criminals sit up and take notice.'The plans come after a consultation on the measures, which the Home Office said had broad support.Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said: 'By working in partnership with industry to advance these measures, we are sending a clear signal that the UK is united in the fight against ransomware.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
Riders cycle from Yorkshire to London for The Jo Cox Way
More than 100 people have cycled from Yorkshire to London in memory of Jo Cox, the MP who was murdered in June were welcomed in the capital by Mrs Cox's parents alongside her sister Kim Leadbeater, the MP for Spen Cox, who was MP for the constituency under its former guise of Batley & Spen, was shot and stabbed multiple times in Birstall, West Yorkshire, by white supremacist Thomas 290-mile ride – The Jo Cox Way – has been taking place for a decade, and it raises money for The Jo Cox Foundation. Ms Leadbeater said: "We've had more cyclists than ever... I think it's fair to say the 10th Jo Cox Way has been a huge success."These riders are just amazing. It just shows the best of people."It's a huge physical and mental challenge and every single one of these cyclists has earnt the respect of everyone they know."Jo was a passionate campaigner for gender equality so it's wonderful to see nearly 60 women riding this year and showing that cycling really is for everyone." The youngest of the 103 participants in this year's ride – which involves 13,000ft of climbing – was 21 while the oldest was 80-year-old Kath Lyons from Skipton, who completed the route for the fourth time."I've been doing The Jo Cox Way again to remind myself what Jo stood for," Mrs Lyons said. "We all have more in common than we think."There are always times on the ride when you think 'What the hell am I doing this for?' but we just encourage each other to get to the top of the next hill." Ken Avery, 76, from Liversedge, West Yorkshire, has terminal cancer. His daughter rode alongside him for the first few miles of the journey, and his son crossed the finish line with him in London."I think they're both proud of me because I'm doing something that I enjoy and it's keeping me fit and healthy," he Avery was told he could expect to live for another 10 years – but that was 15 years ago. He said: "I believe it's down to cycling and keeping fit." Saeed Umar, 50, from Blackburn, was taking part for the first time."It's a great event, bringing together people of different abilities from across the country to help each other through this epic ride - working together, working through challenges," he said."Cycling and charity has brought us together." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Keir Starmer to recall cabinet for emergency meeting on Gaza crisis
Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis this week as cross-party MPs warned his talks with Donald Trump provided a critical juncture in helping to resolve the conflict. Amid growing international horror over the situation on the ground in Gaza, he will urge the US president to take a tougher stance towards Israel and will push for ceasefire talks to resume, when they meet in Scotland on Monday. David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, is also preparing to attend a UN conference on a two-state solution in New York this week at which the pathway to formally recognising a Palestinian state will be under discussion. Government sources insisted that formal recognition of Palestinian statehood was a matter of 'when, not if', with the Labour government under intense domestic pressure to take further action as UK public opinion hardens. Downing Street sources said the government would set out its next steps to help resolve the situation in the Middle East in the coming days, but gave scant details, risking fuelling further criticism of Starmer over his response. Government sources insisted the prime minister was 'unequivocal' in his concern over the scenes in Gaza and was 'horrified' at images of starvation, desperation and suffering of children and babies, as he called his cabinet back to Westminster. During his talks with Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire, Starmer is expected to press the US president to use his influence over the Israeli government to push for a resumption of peace talks between Israel and Hamas, after talks ground to a standstill. The deal under discussion was expected to include a 60-day ceasefire, with aid supplies ramped up as conditions for a lasting truce were brokered, but the US and Israel withdrew their negotiation teams from Qatar on Thursday. Starmer is also coming under growing domestic pressure, including from his own cabinet and a third of Labour MPs, to formally recognise a Palestinian state. The government has disappointed many on its own side by saying this would only happen as part of a negotiated peace deal. In contrast, Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that France would formally recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly in September. UK government aides suggested France's move would be purely symbolic without a path towards peace, which diplomats are expected to discuss next week at the UN. Starmer is also expected to discuss progress in implementing the economic deal the UK has signed with the US, which slashes some of Trump's tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel, and which the UK hopes will be the first step towards a closer trading relationship. After meeting European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, Trump announced the US and the EU had struck a trade deal that would impose tariffs of 15% on most imports from the bloc, and will have a major impact on the UK economy. However, MPs from across the Commons underlined the urgency of Starmer's talks with the US president for the people of Gaza as they called on the prime minister to press Trump to take a more hardline stance towards Israel on aid and a ceasefire. Emily Thornberry, chair of the influential foreign affairs select committee, told the Guardian: 'Netanyahu only listens to Trump, and even then only sometimes. But somebody has to talk to the Israelis and nothing is going to move in this awful situation without him. 'Trump needs to hear that he has the strength of ten presidents, that only he can get a ceasefire. But it's high risk for Keir as it could anger him and it's not even clear whether it would work. But he has to try, this is the moment it has to be done. 'Trump also needs to hear that allies, including the UK, French and Saudis, are prepared to work together to put together peace proposals but they will only work if they result in two states: Israel and Palestine.' Conservative MP Kit Malthouse, a former cabinet minister, added: 'Every moment of inaction is a deliberate choice. These two leaders hold the power to end the starvation and killings in Gaza, to halt the violence in the West Bank, and to bring the hostages home with a permanent ceasefire. 'If they fail to act, history will not only remember the atrocities, it will remember that they had the means to stop them and chose not to.' Palestinians in Gaza have reacted with wariness after Israel began a limited, daily pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza to allow what Benjamin Netanyahu described as a 'minimal' amount of aid into the territory. Scores of Palestinians have died of starvation in recent weeks in a crisis attributed by humanitarian organisations and the UN to Israel's blockade of almost all aid into the territory. Israel also said it would establish humanitarian corridors to allow the UN to deliver food and medicine to Gaza, as well as turn on the power to a desalination plant to provide water. David Lammy welcomed the resumption of humanitarian corridors in the enclave but called for access to supplies to be 'urgently' widened over the coming hours and days, saying that military pauses promised by Israel would not alone be enough to ease suffering in Gaza. 'This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza,' the foreign secretary said. 'We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered. 'Whilst airdrops will help to alleviate the worst of the suffering, land routes serve as the only viable and sustainable means of providing aid into Gaza. These measures must be fully implemented and further barriers on aid removed. The world is watching.' Britain is working with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, with military planners deployed for further support. However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency has warned that such efforts are 'a distraction' that will fail to properly address deepening starvation in the strip, and could in some cases harm civilians.
Telegraph
22 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Prison officers forced to wait for stab vests
Prison officers at risk of attack from terrorists and dangerous criminals are still waiting for stab vests, nearly two months after the Government announced they would be issued. Ministers said at the beginning of June that front-line officers in high-security jails would be issued with the protective body armour after three officers were attacked with makeshift knives by Hashem Abedi, the Manchester Arena terrorist. However, they have not yet been issued with the kit because each officer has to be measured before the vest is then moulded and stitched so that it perfectly fits them. 'It has to be individual fittings so it's comfortable and allows a range of movement,' said a prison source. The disclosure came as Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, announced tasers would be issued to officers in the elite tactical response units who dealt with serious unrest and incidents in prisons. The trial will be the first time prison officers have carried tasers, which fire two small barbed darts at an assailant to administer an electric shock that incapacitates them without serious injury. The national tactical response groups (NTRGs) also wear stab vests, helmets, armoured gloves, aluminium batons, shields, pava pepper spray and smoke bombs. The moves follow a surge in violence in prisons, with a 14 per cent increase in serious assaults on officers and a series of high-profile attacks on staff. Abedi, who is serving life for his part in the murder of 22 people in the arena bombing of 2017, used knives and hot cooking oil to injure three officers, one of whom suffered life-threatening injuries, at high-security HMP Frankland in Co Durham. Another officer at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire was seriously injured when he was stabbed by an inmate, using a weapon believed to have been brought into the high-security jail by a drone. The stab vests are being issued initially to officers in three high security jail separation centres, of which there are three, as well as segregation and close supervision units also in high security prisons. Officers also have the option of unfitted protective armour. The Ministry of Justice suspended the use of kitchens in separation units after the attack by Abedi, who is believed to have crafted his knives out of a baking tray. Ms Mahmood has commissioned Jonathan Hall, KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, to explore ways of segregating dangerous offenders after the attack by Abedi. The Prison Officers' Association has not only called for stab vests for staff but also for all terrorists and violent prisoners who assault officers to be held in US-style 'supermax' units or separate jails. They would only be allowed out of their cells for one hour a day, handcuffed and supervised by three officers. Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers Association (POA) welcome the taser trial but said it was 'pointless' without wider deployment. He said: 'The POA are grateful that the Government are taking our concerns seriously and are piloting the use of tasers with our national response teams. 'This is a step in the right direction and highlights the imminent threat to life brave prison officers face on a daily basis. This trial must initiate the rollout locally of taser use. 'It is pointless a national response being several hours away if locally a taser is needed immediately to preserve life and combat threat.'
