Organisations across the UK should heed the Government's list of cyber security threats

While there has been much talk in the news lately about security in general and other risks to the safety of our planet such as nuclear war and artificial intelligence, cyber security remains a particular concern for many of us. It should certainly be for many of the UK’s organisations that are failing to adopt the most up-to-date security measures, which can also include the penetration testing in which Sec-Tec enjoys an industry-leading reputation.

One story that particularly caught our attention lately was a list of cyber security threats issued by the UK Government’s only recently opened National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The organisation said that it had thwarted 188 high-level cyber attacks launched against the UK in its first three months of ‘unofficial’ operation, so we suspect that it is especially well-placed to identify the genuine threats that aren’t merely – in its own words – “dystopian warnings”.

State hacking, satellites and technology reliance all cited

Given the frequent headlines in recent times about state-sponsored hacking groups in Russia and China, it’s no surprise that they make the list of threats cited by the NCSC, which commented: “We judge that the increasing reliance on the Internet by governments, businesses and individuals will make the acquisition of espionage and offensive cyber capabilities attractive to more states”.

Other risks mentioned by the body include the GPS satellites among the 27,000 pieces of ‘space junk’ presently soaring around Earth. They are thought to be potentially vulnerable from a security perspective due to their status as outmoded technology with zero built-in cyber protection. Our ever-increasing dependence on technology in general was also mentioned as a potential risk, with the NCSC predicting that “cyberspace will be widely exploited by all types of actors.”

What does all of this have to do with penetration testing?

While you may see little connection between some of these cited risks and your own organisation’s cyber activities, the truth is that the NCSC’s list reflects an ever-evolving security landscape that businesses and bodies across the UK will need to be able to navigate in the years ahead.

This is why our penetration testing service here at Sec-Tec is such an important one. We have in-depth expertise in this highly specialised field, encompassing such stages of penetration testing as the initial scoping and agreement, information gathering and mapping, manual testing and exploitation.

Together, it all helps to ensure that we take a fastidious testing approach to pinpoint the risks to your business and its data that may have never otherwise been spotted until too late a stage. Talk to Sec-Tec now about our penetration testing that could be so instrumental in plugging the glaring gaps in your organisation’s infrastructure in 2017.