Most UK orgs vulnerable to attacks – Microsoft

A large majority of UK organizations are entering the age of artificial intelligence but are woefully unprepared for new attack vectors that AI provides.

A staggering 87% of UK organizations are vulnerable to cyberattacks, Microsoft’s recent report says, pointing out that almost half of them are at high risk of an attack.

According to the report, 39% of organizations don’t inform their leadership about cyber threats, don’t have a business continuity plan, do not have a cybersecurity budget and lack investment in technology upgrades.

Another 48% were qualified as “vulnerable” where only a small number of leaders take cybersecurity seriously. The same category of organizations provide inconsistent responses to attack times, hampering effective cyber resilience, and are more likely to lack in-house cybersecurity skills.

Meanwhile, cybercriminals, some of whom have resources of entire nation-states behind them, are tooling up with AI to increase the sophistication of their attacks, Paul Kelly, Director of the Security Business Group at Microsoft UK, said.

North Korea, for example, is famously supportive of its financially-motivated hacker collectives, such as Lazarus, that directly contribute to the filling up of the country’s coffers.

“Cyberattacks currently cost the UK an estimated £87 billion every year, and such attacks are increasing in number and complexity, “reads the report.

To combat the looming threat of AI-based attacks, the report’s authors advise focusing on widespread AI adoption in cybersecurity, targeting security investments, cultivating cybersecurity talent, and fostering R&D knowledge.