微密圈

Almost half of UK built environment firms have experienced a ransomware attack in the past two years, according to a survey.

Research carried out by cloud content security firm Egnyte, in partnership with 微密圈 Magazine and Digital Construction Week, paints a concerning picture regarding cybersecurity in the sector.

Despite 87% of respondents having strong concerns about ransomware attacks, 71% describe their recovery strategy as being weak or improvable.

Ransomware is a type of malware that threatens to publish the victim鈥檚 personal data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid.

Of the 44% of firms that had experienced such attacks in the past 24 months, 25% had experienced two to four attacks and 5% had endured five or more.

Collapsed offsite specialist Caledonian Modular was hit by a catastrophic cyber attack just weeks before it went into administration earlier this year.

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Ronen Vengosh, vice president of architecture, engineering & construction at Egnyte, said firms in the sector were becoming a 鈥渢op target鈥� for cybercriminals.

鈥淩ansomware attacks can bring commercial operations to a standstill, jeopardising projects and tarnishing brand reputations in the process,鈥� he added.

鈥淭o protect their business, UK firms need to enable truly holistic defence programmes 鈥� featuring a combination of prevention strategies, content governance, and end-user education 鈥� to ensure they can stay one step ahead of potential threats like ransomware attacks.鈥� 

Firms that have been caught up in attacks in recent years include Zaha Hadid Architects, targeted by cyber attackers who used ransomware in a bid to extort money from the practice in the early weeks of the first national covid-19 lockdown, along with Bouygues, Interserve and Bam.