New research by cybersecurity expert Mimecast finds that email attacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated
More and more companies in the UK are using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to fend off increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks, according to new research from cybersecurity specialist Mimecast. The research finds that 40% of UK organisations are already using AI or ML in their organisations’ cybersecurity programme, with 30% planning to do so within the next 12 months.
The use of advanced technologies such as AI and ML is in direct response to the growing sophistication of cyberattacks that UK businesses are experiencing. 53% believe that increasingly sophisticated attacks will be their biggest email security challenge in 2022, leading to 80% believing it is at least likely their organisation will suffer a negative business impact from an email-borne attack this year.
Growing threat landscape
The research shows that email remains the largest threat vector for UK businesses, with 71% of respondents reporting an increase in the volume of email threats their organisation has faced in the last 12 months. This includes phishing with malicious links or attachments (56%), impersonation fraud or Business Email Compromise (53%), and malicious insiders (43%). However, it isn’t just email attacks that are on the rise, as 90% of UK businesses experienced at least one spoofing attack that uses a lookalike web domain or a clone of their organisation’s website in the last 12 months. The average UK company has experienced 11 of these attacks.
On top of this, employees are also presenting organisations with a very real threat to their cybersecurity. The survey identifies that IT decision makers have relatively low confidence in their colleagues’ cyber awareness , believing that there is a risk of an employee making a serious security risk due to oversharing company information on social media (84%), poor password hygeine (80%), using personal email (80%), or using cloud storage and other shadow IT functionality (81%). When an employee does full victim to an attack, it frequently results in more widespread consequences. 85% of respondents say threats have spread from one infected user to other members of the organisation.
AI to the rescue
To overcome this growing threat landscape, more and more UK organisations are turning to advanced technologies to strengthen their cybersecurity position. The 40% of UK organisations that are already using AI as part of their cybersecurity strategy are already seeing a number of benefits, including increased accuracy in terms of threat detection (54%), reduced human error within cybersecurity team (51%), and reduced workload/working hours for cybersecurity team (45%).
Despite these very real benefits, there is the very real danger that many UK organisations will miss out due to a lack of budget dedicated to cybersecurity. The research highlights a clear discrepancy between the amount IT decision makers believe should be spent on cyber resilience and how much budget is actually allocated by business leaders. IT decision makers in the UK believe that 16% of their IT budget should be allocated to cyber, but at the moment they see less than 12% allocated. Missing out on new technology innovations such as AI is identified as the most likely consequence (49%) for organisations where the cybersecurity budget is not as high as respondents believe it should be.
Elaine Lee, AI expert at Mimecast, said: “There is no doubt that cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, as UK businesses adjust to the world of hybrid work. On top of this increase in frequency, we are also seeing a rise in the sophistication of attacks. This is creating a perfect storm and making it more difficult than ever for organisations to keep their businesses secure. With this in mind, it is no surprise to see so many organisations turn to advanced technologies such as AI to bolster their cybersecurity defences. AI solutions can help businesses to automate security processes, ensuring they are better able to fend off attacks, as well as providing their security experts with more time to focus on high-level analyses that require human interaction.”
Lee continued: “Organisations that have yet to invest in AI technologies as part of their cybersecurity strategy should do so. Cyberattacks are going to continue to be a major threat to UK businesses and these businesses need to respond accordingly with sufficient budget. A successful cyberattack has the potential to cause serious ramifications for a business, including both financial and reputational damage. Now is the time to take this threat seriously and get prepared.”
