Rise in lost and stolen tech across UK government departments, with HMRC a hotspot
Low-tech email scams on the rise as cybercrooks adapt, warns VIPRE
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Rise in lost and stolen tech across UK government departments, with HMRC a hotspot
ore than 1,200 devices have been reported lost or stolen from important government departments. HMRC continues
M to see high levels of missing equipment despite internal audits and other departments are also experiencing an increase.
Apricorn, a leading manufacturer of software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB data storage devices, has announced the findings from its annual Freedom of Information( FoI) requests into device loss and data breaches across major government departments in 2024.
The figures indicate that device security issues remain endemic across the public sector, with several departments reporting an increase in lost and stolen devices compared to the previous year, despite attempts to address the issue.
“ Although HMRC’ s numbers suggest some improvement following internal audits, the continued high levels of device loss across government departments show that fundamental issues have not been resolved,” said Jon Fielding, Managing Director, EMEA, Apricorn.“ Every lost or unaccounted device carries a risk for those individuals whose data could be exposed.”
The findings also reveal the extent of personal data breaches, with The House of Commons disclosing 49 incidents involving personal data during 2024, up from 41 reported the previous year. The figure highlights the continued vulnerability of sensitive personal information within Parliament and other institutions.
Several departments that had previously been forthcoming with breach and incident reporting have declined to respond in full this year.
Low-tech email scams on the rise as cybercrooks adapt, warns VIPRE
ybersecurity firm VIPRE Security Group reports a surge in‘ low-tech,’ human-focused email attacks in Q1 2025. Their
C analysis of 1.45 billion emails reveals a staggering 92 % were spam, with 67 % malicious.
Callback phishing scams, where victims are tricked into calling fraudulent numbers, now account for 16 % of phishing attempts, challenging traditional link-based attacks.
He added:“ With cybercriminals mastering the art of human deception and crafting phishing attacks that bypass conventional defenses, email security in turn demands an approach that weaponises cybercriminals’ own actions and uses their patterns to create a unique, future-proofed response.”
Criminals are also exploiting SVG image files( 34 % of phishing attachments) to bypass defences by embedding malicious scripts. The US is the top target for these attacks. XRed malware dominated in Q1, significantly outpacing other threats.
The US remains the biggest source( 57 %) and recipient( 75 %) of spam. Interestingly, malicious HTML attachments are declining, as attackers favour less obvious methods. The manufacturing sector remains the most targeted( 36 %). VIPRE’ s findings highlight a shift towards simpler social engineering tactics requiring greater vigilance.
“ There’ s a clear shift in cybercriminals’ preference towards low-tech, high-impact, human-centric tactics. This demands a fundamental rethink of email security – one that addresses the human element as vigilantly as the technological,” Usman Choudhary, Chief Product and Technology Officer, VIPRE Security Group, said.
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