Goverment Reports ''Disturbing'' Cyber Attacks on UK

According to a recent report in the London Times, the Ministry of Defence prevented 1,000 cyber attacks last year alone.

Over the last few years, the threat of cyberwarfare has been growing and it's becoming more important for large governments to prepare themselves for the possibility of a large-scale cyber attack. This week, the UK government hammered home the importance of ensuring the nation's safety against a cyber attack with the revelation that the country had been subject to a "disturbing" number of cyber-attacks.

Speaking to the Times (via the BBC), the Director of GCHQ said that cyber criminals carried out a significant but unsuccessful internet-based attack on the Foreign Office's systems this past summer, and that these criminals are not only targeting sensitive data on government computers, but also the systems of defence, technology and engineering firms.

"I can attest to attempts to steal British ideas and designs - in the IT, technology, defence, engineering and energy sectors, as well as other industries - to gain commercial advantage or to profit from secret knowledge of contractual arrangements," director Iain Lobban told the Times, describing the attacks as disturbing and an attack on the UK's continued economic wellbeing. He went on to highlight government online taxation and benefits services as potential future targets.

Lobban's comments come just as the capital is preparing to host the London Conference on Cyberspace. The conference will be attended by tech visionaries and top politicians, including Jimmy Wales and Hillary Clinton, and is aimed at bringing cyberwarfare and policies to the forefront of world leaders' minds.

Read the full story over on the BBC.