UK firms urged to improve cyber protocols to avoid holiday snap hack

Businesses and tech giants need to make improvements to their cyber security protocols or holiday photographs are in danger of being hacked, suggests a Cabinet Minister.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Matt Hancock, said that UK chief executives should assume more responsibility when it comes to consumer data.

In the last 12 months, two in three of every large business suffered a cyber attack, with close to one in four experiencing one or month each month.

This happened while the National Cyber Security Centre’s Prospectus was being published by the government. It outlines how it will work before the full launch, which is expected later in the year.

Hancock said when addressing the crowd at the recent Telegraph Cyber Security event:

“The vast majority of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure is operated by the private sector. Power, water and telecoms are all critical targets.

“Even outside that our digital lives are in your hands, everything from our life savings to our holiday snaps.”

He went on to say that it is the responsibility of chief executives to ensure that their company avoids making newspaper headlines when the next breach occurs.

These chief executives need to look at their IT security recruitment strategy and ask themselves if they are doing enough. Should they find that they are not, it is to be hoped that this will act as a springboard to tighter security protocols, and we will have a more secure infrastructure among UK firms.