Beaming Cyber Threat Report Q1 2024

The attack rate fell slightly from record levels in Q4 2023, but companies now encounter a new attempt to breach their systems every 43 seconds.

UK companies encountered more than 181,000 online cyberattacks each, on average, in the first three months of 2024, according to analysis from Beaming, an internet service provider for businesses. This was the busiest start to a year for malicious online activity ever.

Businesses in the UK experienced 1,991 online attempts to breach their IT systems in the first quarter of 2024, one attack every 43 seconds. This attack rate was six per cent down on the 2,114 attacks per day recorded in the final quarter of 2023, the worst period ever for cyberattacks on UK businesses, but 5% more than the first three months of last year.

January was the worst month, with businesses receiving 2,140 attacks per day on average.

Beaming identified more than 265,000 individual IP addresses used to launch online attacks in the first quarter of and traced 23 per cent of them to locations in China. Beaming also identified significant cyberattack activity that appeared to originate in the USA (seven per cent of attacking IP addresses), India (five per cent), Russia and Brazil (both three per cent).

Remotely controlled devices connected to the Internet of Things continued to attract the highest volume of targeted attacks. Seven per cent of malicious web activity spotted by Beaming in Q1 2024, around 144 attacks per day, appeared to target these devices. Company databases, remote desktops and web applications also attracted more than 20 attacks daily in the first three months of 2024.

Sonia Blizzard, Managing Director of Beaming, said: “Cyberattack levels remain critical. Commercial internet users must fortify their digital defences, including maintaining up-to-date firewalls and employing robust security measures to safeguard against evolving cyber threats.”

While most online cyberattacks are thwarted by company firewalls and other cybersecurity measures, the financial impact of cybercrime is substantial. A separate Beaming study estimates that 1.5 million UK businesses fell victim to some form of cybercrime in 2023, at a total cost of more than £30.5 billion.