- UK government putting forward proposals on ransomware protection for consultation
- Proposals aim to make critical infrastructure less vulnerable
- These include mandatory reporting and a ban on ransom payments.
The UK government is launching a consultation on proposals to protect British businesses and infrastructure from the growing threat of ransomware attacks.
Consultations on the proposals will begin now and will be heard until early April 2025, and include a targeted ban on ransomware payments for the public sector, a ransomware incident reporting regime and a ransomware payments prevention regime for the victims.
The need for protection is evident: research found that 90% of cyber attacks between April 2023 and March 2024 were politically motivated, leaving critical infrastructure more vulnerable, as seen with recent frequent breaches of targets healthcare facilities, including an NHS children’s hospital.
Unattractive goals
The average cost of a ransomware attack has skyrocketed; Recent research claims that such incidents have cost UK businesses approximately £44 billion over the past five years.
The objectives of the proposal are to deter attackers from attacking critical infrastructure by prohibiting the payment of ransom demands, interrupting the cybercriminal’s source of income. This means local authorities, schools and hospitals will be among those banned from paying and obliged to report any intrusions.
The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) managed 430 cyber incidents between September 2023 and August 2024, which included 13 ransomware attacks “of national importance”, which were considered to have posed serious damage to essential services or the economy in general.
“Reducing cybercrime is central to this Government’s missions to reduce crime, deliver growth and keep the British people safe,” said Security Minister Dan Jarvis.
“With an estimated $1 billion flowing to ransomware criminals around the world in 2023, it is vital that we act to protect national security as the key foundation on which this Government’s Plan for Change is built. These proposals “They help us address the scale of the ransomware threat, hitting these criminal networks deep into their wallets and cutting off the key financial channel they depend on to operate.”
