National Infrastructure damaged by Cyber-attacks

A survey of security professionals in six countries, including the UK, by the Ponemon Institute found 90% had been hit by at least one successful attack. Staff in the utilities, energy, health and transport sectors were questioned.

Experts said the results are a wake-up call for an industry that often under-reports attacks and the damage done. Staff tasked with keeping critical infrastructure systems running often kept details secret for security reasons, they said.

The report also concludes that a lack of resources and intelligence about "relentless and continuous" cyber-attacks are the industry's biggest concern.

Daily attacks

The Ponemon Institute, which specialises in cyber-security and privacy issues, used an anonymous poll to quiz more than 700 security professionals in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Mexico and Japan who work to protect critical infrastructure. Of those responding, nine out of 10 said the organisation they worked for had been damaged by a successful cyber-attack in the last two years. Many reported being hit by between three and six such incidents.

Respondents said around half of the successful attacks had resulted in downtime of critical systems. This was because essential systems were knocked out as part of the attack or operators had to turn off systems to repair the damage done. Read More on BBC Technology World News

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