‘Attacks will get through’: head of GCHQ urges companies to do more to fight cybercrime
Companies need to do more to mitigate the potential effects of cyber-attacks, the head of GCHQ has said, including making physical, paper copies of crisis plans to use if an attack brings down entire computer systems,“What are your contingency plans? Because attacks will get through,” said Anne Keast-Butler, who has headed GCHQ, the British government’s cyber and signals intelligence agency, since 2023,“What happens when that happens to you in a company, have you really tested that?” said Keast-Butler, speaking on Wednesday at a London conference organised by the cybersecurity company Recorded Future,“Your plans … have you got them on paper somewhere in case all your systems really go down? How will you communicate with each other if you’re completely reliant on a system that actually you shut down?”Last week, the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, announced figures showing that “highly significant” cyber-attacks have risen by 50% in the past year,Security and intelligence agencies are now dealing with a new attack several times per week, the figures showed.
Keast-Butler said the government and business needed to work together to tackle future attacks and improve defensive systems, as modern technology and artificial intelligence make the threats more diffuse and reduce “the entry level capability” that malicious actors need to do damage.She said work with internet service providers to block malicious websites at source was “blocking millions of potential hits” but said major companies needed to do much more to protect themselves.On Tuesday, a report by the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC) said the hack of Jaguar Land Rover had cost the UK economy an estimated £1.9bn, which could make it the most costly cyber-attack in British history.JLR had to shut down systems across all its factories and offices after the attack in August, and may not be able to return to normal production capacity until January.
Keast-Butler said “[there are] far, far, far more attacks that get stopped than the ones that we’re focusing in on”, but added that the increased publicity around the JLR and several other major cyber-attacks provided a good moment to ram home the importance of cybersecurity protocols.She said she spoke regularly to CEOs of major companies and one of her messages to them was that they need to put people who understand cybersecurity on their boards.“Quite often, the way boards are configured, they don’t have people who will know the right questions to be asking.So the interest is there, but the right questions don’t get asked,” she said.Earlier this year, the Co-op Group suffered a cyber-attack that cost it up to £120m in lost profits and compromised the personal data of some of its members.
Shirine Khoury-Haq, the group’s CEO, released an open letter in the aftermath detailing the importance of cybersecurity drills to build strategy on how to deal with an attack,“The intensity, urgency and unpredictability of a live attack is unlike anything you can rehearse,That said, those drills are invaluable; they build muscle memory, sharpen instincts, and expose vulnerabilities in your systems,” wrote Khoury-Haq,Keast-Butler encouraged companies to share information on attacks with government agencies, saying that “safe spaces” had been set up to enable them to do so without the risk of giving away commercially sensitive information to competitors,“I think sometimes people are a bit too reticent to come forward because there’s a sort of personal thing on them or their company as a whole.
And that doesn’t help any of us, because then they’re not making the kind of long-term strategic systems changes that we can help out with,” she said.
Foxtons shares drop sharply after it warns of ‘subdued’ pre-budget sales
The estate agency Foxtons has warned of weak sales for the rest of the year as economic uncertainty and potential property tax changes in next month’s budget deter buyers, sending its shares sharply lower.The London-focused company, known for its green-and-yellow Mini cars, said buyers had been holding off ahead of the budget on 26 November, which is a month later than usual.Slower-than-expected interest rate cuts from the Bank of England are also having an impact by affecting the cost of mortgages, it said. As a result, “sales are likely to remain subdued for the rest of the year”, with a risk that revenues in the fourth quarter could fall below management’s expectations.Guy Gittins, the chief executive who started his career at Foxtons in 2002 and returned to lead the company three years ago, said: “Macroeconomic uncertainty and speculation surrounding the delayed autumn budget has resulted in a subdued sales market as some buyers adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude to purchases
Aerospace groups link up to create European rival to Musk’s SpaceX
Airbus, Leonardo and Thales have struck a deal to combine their space businesses to create a single European technology company that could rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX.The deal is expected to create a company with annual revenue of about €6.5bn (£5.6bn). The French aerospace company Airbus will own 35% of the new business, with Leonardo and Thales each owning stakes of 32
Lloyds profits plunge 36% as it feels impact of UK car finance scandal
Lloyds Banking Group profits have been sent plunging by more than a third by the car loans commission scandal, as the lender steels itself for a surge in compensation payouts to drivers.The high street bank took the 36% hit in the third quarter after putting aside a further £800m to cover the prospective costs of a redress scheme proposed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).The additional charge, announced last week, brings Lloyds’ total compensation pot to £1.95bn.Lloyds is the UK’s biggest car lender through its Black Horse division and is expected to foot the largest bill among its peers
Thames Water ranked worst supplier in England as firms’ ratings hit record low
England’s water company ratings have fallen to the lowest level on record after sewage pollution last year hit a new peak, with eight of nine water companies rated as poor and needing improvement by the Environment Agency.The cumulative score of only 19 stars out of a possible 36 is the lowest since the regulator began auditing the companies using the star rating system in 2011.Only one company, Severn Trent, achieved full marks. It did so despite having been responsible for 62,085 sewage spills, averaging seven hours each, in 2024.Struggling Thames Water was the only company to be awarded one star for its performance
Groceries via delivery apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Milkrun can be up to 39% more expensive
Convenience can come at a steep price, Choice has found, with Australian consumers paying up to 39% more for groceries ordered through rapid delivery apps.Choice compared in-store prices of 13 common grocery items available at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi with their equivalents on third-party apps Uber Eats, DoorDash and Woolworths-owned Milkrun.They found that items including pasta, milk and fresh vegetables cost on average 11% more on third-party apps and delivery charges of between $5 and $11 significantly drove up bills.Seven out of 13 items at Aldi were priced higher on DoorDash than in store, while Milkrun charged more for 11 out of 13 items from Woolworths.“Not all items are increased in price,” said the editorial director at Choice, Mark Serrels, but “the majority of them are”
Barclays can afford Tricolor loss but risks remain in the private credit market
“I’m not an entomologist,” said CS Venkatakrishnan, the Barclays chief executive, dodging the question everybody is asking: how many cockroaches are about to crawl out of the woodwork in the private credit market?The good news – sort of – for Barclays is that it had only one insect to point to. A £110m loss from lending to Tricolor, the US sub-prime auto lender that has failed amid allegations of fraud, doesn’t look good but Venkatakrishnan could simultaneously trumpet that Barclays avoided that other rotten private credit beast First Brands. Barclays was asked to lend to the stricken autoparts supplier, but didn’t. JP Morgan, taking its own $170m (£127m) hit on Tricolor, said the same last week.One could regard these developments as mildly reassuring after a week in which both the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England have warned about risks that may be emerging in the world of private credit, AKA the shadow banking sector
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