Cyber attacks soar to record high in Scotland, new figures reveal

Of those 403, 331 were to gain unauthorised access to computers, while 71 were attacks on their operation.

The information was disclosed by the Scottish Government in a written parliamentary answer, following a question raised by Scottish Conservative MSP Miles Briggs.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said no details were held regarding the characteristics of victims, including whether they were private households, businesses, charity organisations or public sector organisations.

The figures come just a month after the Auditor General for Scotland warned that public sector bodies must have robust cyber defences in place after revealing that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) still did not know the full financial implications of a December 2020 cyber attack.

Last year Sepa described the cyber attack, which took place on Christmas Eve 2020, as “serious and complex”, noted that it displayed “significant stealth and malicious sophistication” and that that “significantly impacted our organisation, our staff, our public and private partners, and the communities who rely on our services”.

During the attack the majority of Sepa’s data was encrypted, stolen or deleted overnight, with cyber criminals demanding the organisation pay a ransom in order to access it again.

Sepa did not pay the ransom and was able to continue operating, but a special report from Audit Scotland found that the organisation is still working on reinstating parts of its systems and had not yet been able to quantify the full implications of its financial records being wiped.

Holyrood was the target of a sustained "brute force cyber attack" in 2017, similar to one against Westminster a few months earlier.

The Scottish Parliament's IT systems were the focus of the online criminals with extra defences put in place with the help of the National Cyber Security Centre at the time.

Responding to the upsurge in reported cyber attack figures Mr Briggs said Scottish Government's cuts to Police Scotland’s capital budget will hinder their efforts to combat this problem.

“This shocking and unprecedented rise in cyber-attacks will leave many people feeling deeply concerned," said Mr Briggs, who is rhe Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for social justice.

“Our police desperately need the resources to tackle this issue, but instead the SNP Government have given them a real-terms cut to their capital budget."

He added: “That means our police are being left without the equipment, training and resources they need to tackle these attacks. It is essential that the public can go online without feeling under threat from hackers – particularly just now with concerns about global cyber-security in the wake of Russia’s appalling invasion of Ukraine. We know that Scottish public-sector organisations have been subject to cyber-attacks too, so this is a growing problem.

“The Scottish Conservatives called for a £35.6m increase in police capital spending in the last budget – but the SNP ignored us and cut it in real terms. We would ensure that our police are always fully funded and equipped for the future with our Local Policing Act.”

Mr Brown said in the 2020-21 recorded crime statistics, a procedural change was made to the recording of international crime in 2020-21, whereby cases carried out by a perpetrator who was likely to be outside the UK are now included.

He said this change may have led to some additional crimes being recorded in the latest year, though more broadly the increase may in part be due to the significant impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including behavioural changes with more people undertaking activities online.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs  of Police Scotland said: “Cybercrime is a broad term which includes a wide variety of issues, including traditional crimes such as fraud, now enabled by the internet, as well as newer crimes where technology is targeted.

“It is also constantly evolving as our use of the internet and technology develops. Police Scotland is committed to keeping everyone safe in the digital world we now live in.

“Tackling cybercrime is a priority for Police Scotland and in recent years have significantly increased our capability to deal with this issue. We continue to build on these  specialist resources and we are committed to utilising all new technology and tactics available

“The borderless nature of cybercrime is undoubtedly a challenge. However, using well-established channels, we work collaboratively with law enforcement partners across the UK and internationally, allowing us to identify and respond to emerging threats or risks which may impact on communities in Scotland."

He added: “We also welcome the recent announcement of a Scottish Cyber Co-ordination Centre and which will allow a number of partners to work collectively to ensure the public and businesses are protected against the growing threat and risk from cybercrime and other online-related crime.”