2,650% surge in email attacks against ICO in 2021, data reveals

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a privacy and data protection regulator in charge of upholding information rights, faced an astonishing 2650% surge in email attacks against its confidential data throughout 2021, according to official figures.

The data, retrieved by the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and analysed by the Parliament Street think tank, revealed that the volume of malware, phishing, and spam emails detected and blocked in 2021 rose significantly from 150,317 in January to a startling 4,135,075 in December, an increase of 2,650%.

Most of the attacks were caused by spam emails, which increased by 2775% from January to December. During this time, phishing emails increased by 20%, while malware increased by 423%. The data revealed a significant increase in email attacks in December, with 4,125,992 spam messages, 7886 phishing emails, and 1197 malware instances.

The massive increase in ICO email attacks from November to December coincides with the widespread distribution of the Omicron variant. Threat actors were able to use topics like testing and vaccines to lure people in. This is in addition to the Christmas scams that abound in the run-up to the holidays.

Steven Peake, manager for Barracuda Networks, expressed his concern that the pandemic will continue to be a catalyst for opportunistic cybercriminals to prey on unsuspecting, vulnerable people.

According to his research, there has been a 521% increase in COVID-19 test-related phishing attacks, so it’s not surprising that major organisations, such as the ICO, have been hit by such a high volume of threats because they are lucrative targets. Phishing emails, malware, and spam, in particular, account for a significant portion of the threats these businesses face, so they must take precautions. He went on to say that these cyber-attackers aren’t going away anytime soon.