Public users have reported more than 10 million suspicious phishing emails to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service under the National Cyber Security Centre or NCSC, causing a massive takedown to over 76,000 online scam operations worldwide.
The Suspicious Email Reporting Service is established to allow people to alert authorities about phishing scams they receive via email that could harm them. Some of the reported phishing scams by users include phoney cryptocurrency investments and fake package delivery notifications.
Upon the beginning of the pandemic in the UK, the reporting service was built to help people report suspicious emails, especially with the rise of people’s reliance on digital services.
The pandemic has urged more hackers to step up their game; thus, the rate of phishing emails to scam users has increased amid the situation. If users click on the attached malicious links found in the emails, it could lead to compromised sensitive user data, such as their bank details being stolen.
Despite the large number of scams that the reporting service has taken down, cyberattacks are still an active issue in the UK. Based on expert studies, about 161% of hacking and data infiltration rate are recorded in England and Wales for 2021.
NCSC added a new campaign to their list of anti-cybercrime efforts, aiming to encourage people within cyberspace to know the risks and protect themselves against threats posed by cybercriminals.
This effort urges users to create strong passwords, such as combining three random words and activating MFA (multi-factor authentication) on their user accounts. Implementing both of these steps could amplify users’ protection from cyber threats.
From a statement released by NCSC, British people have helped the Suspicious Email Reporting Service to be an effective avenue of reporting malicious cybercriminal activities or scams. As people become more knowledgeable of how they can protect themselves, the more these threats will be lessened.
Furthermore, the security agency added that it is the collective effort of everyone to follow cybersecurity measures to eradicate malicious entities in the cyber landscape completely so that users can have a safe environment online.
