Ransomware attackers are targeting London’s City bankers and workers as the Square Mile suffers more cyber attacks than many countries.
According to threat intelligence data collected by security company Malwarebytes, some of London’s top banks, law firms and other businesses were found to have been subjected to about 10,500 ransomware hits in little over a year.
The City experienced 670% more ransomware attacks than the next largest area, Manchester.
The File Cryptor ransomware was found to be the most common, closely followed by File Locker. Trojan Ransom, Cryptowall and TeslaCrypt are also playing a key role in the attacks.
Malwarebytes data science analyst Nima Samadi told IBTimes UK: “Given that only 7000 people live in the City of London, but hundreds of thousands commute there every day, it is not a great leap to assume these attacks involved compromised work systems.
“With over 80m square ft. of office space in just 1.1 miles – that is a hugely tempting target for the bad guys.”
Businesses in the UK are not the only sector to suffer from ransomware attacks. Hospitals across the country have also been targeted by ransomware.
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The news comes after recent reports that post-Brexit, London has been named best city in Europe for business.
Despite post-Brexit concerns, Majority of US tech execs have positioned London as Europe’s number one business hub.
In a post-Brexit survey of over two hundred senior US tech executives, London beat out other cities such as Berlin, Paris and Dublin as the leading tech hub in Europe.
In August this year, the City of London Police launched innovative cyber crime pilot project. The force will work with private law firms to use civil law against cyber criminals.
