London’s National Gallery Hit With 2 Million Attacks

The National Gallery, one of London’s most popular art museums based in Trafalgar Square was hit with a staggering 1,875,250 email cyber-attacks last year. The gallery, which attracts over five million visitors every year, was hit by an astonishing total of 1,875,250 email cyber-attacks in 2019. These came in a variety of forms, including spam and virus attempts.

This is according to official figures obtained by Absolute Software, the cyber security specialists and leader in endpoint resilience. Absolute Software obtained the information via a Freedom of Information request. The figures displayed the lengths cyber-criminals went to try and steal the personal and financial data of members of the major tourist attraction.

 “It’s clear that cyber-criminals are mastering the art of malicious email attacks, designed to infiltrate the National Gallery and steal confidential data.... With millions of visitors every year and tens of thousands of members, it’s vital that London’s leading tourist hotspots have the right systems in place to protect devices from infiltration.” said Andy Harcup of  Absolute Software, 

The National Gallery, which is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, prevented a wide range of sophisticated attacks from reaching their destination. The gallery's online security team successfuly blocked email addresses software was able to quarantine 1,176,656 different attack attempts, while its detection software blocked 18,378 spam emails and 443,741 attempted connection emails. 

A further 179,844 emails were stopped under the category of anti-spoofing lockout and 10,959 were registered as manual envelope rejection. Another 2810 emails were blocked under the category of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
“With many major museums now closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it’s critical that enterprises have full visibility of the assets allocated to remote workers as well as always having control of those assets in case of the need to take action,” added Harcup.

The National Portrait Gallery, another one of London’s most prestigious art galleries, was targeted by 347,602 emails containing spam, phishing and malware attacks in the final quarter of 2019, according to official figures and this data underlines the threat posed to the capital’s museums by malicious hackers who are intent on stealing membership data from tourist hotspots.

Of the 347,602 blocked email attacks, 56 per cent (194,620) were identified as Directory Harvest Attacks (DHA).
A DHA is an attempt to determine the valid e-mail addresses of employees or individuals associated with an organisation’s server so that they can be added to a spam database. Additionally, 61,710 emails were blocked as the sender belonged to a ‘threat intelligence blacklist’.

In 2017, London art dealers were defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of pounds after hackers successfully breached company email accounts to monitor correspondence between clients.  The incident resulted in fresh cyber security guidance being issued by the Society of London Art Dealers, as well as tips for avoiding email fraud.

CloudPro:         Infosecurity-Magazine:       The Commentator:       The Commentator:

You Might Also Read: 

Cyber Crime Is An Increasing Risk For Charities:

 

« Hackers Are Exploiting Remote Workers
AI Is Closing The Cyber Skills Gap »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Cyber Security Supplier Directory

Cyber Security Supplier Directory

Our Supplier Directory lists 6,000+ specialist cyber security service providers in 128 countries worldwide. IS YOUR ORGANISATION LISTED?

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

MIRACL

MIRACL

MIRACL provides the world’s only single step Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which can replace passwords on 100% of mobiles, desktops or even Smart TVs.

ManageEngine

ManageEngine

As the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine prioritizes flexible solutions that work for all businesses, regardless of size or budget.

Luxar Tech

Luxar Tech

Luxar's network visibility products enable enterprises and service providers to monitor network traffic, improve security and optimize efficiency.

CIRT.GY

CIRT.GY

CIRT-GY is the national Computer Incident Response Team for Guyana.

Simula Research Laboratory

Simula Research Laboratory

Simula Research Laboratory carries out research in the fields of communication systems, scientific computing and software engineering.

Thinklogical

Thinklogical

Thinklogical manufactures secure, KVM, video, audio, and computer peripheral signal switching solutions for defence C4ISR applications.

SEC Consult

SEC Consult

SEC Consult is a leading European consultancy for application security services and information security.

Cyber Defense Labs

Cyber Defense Labs

Cyber Defense Labs helps companies identify, mitigate and reduce risk as a trusted, reliable partner for cyber risk management.

Ubiq Security

Ubiq Security

Ubiq has developed a software solution that secures any type of data, on any device, anywhere, with nearly no impact to system performance or user experience.

Indusface

Indusface

Indusface offers best website security, web application firewall and SSL certificate to keep your online business much safer.

Infosec Train

Infosec Train

Infosec Train provide professional training, certifications & professional services related to all spheres of Information Technology and Cyber Security.

Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN)

Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN)

KTN links new ideas and opportunities with expertise, markets and finance through our network of businesses, universities, funders and investors.

Adyta

Adyta

Adyta specializes in cybersecurity solutions adapted to the needs of sovereign institutions, business groups and other organizations that handle information and sensitive or classified data.

Veridium

Veridium

Veridium is a leader in single step - multi factor biometric authentication, designed to safeguard enterprises’ most critical assets.

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK delivers career-changing cyber training to help adults re-skill. Learn online to become a cyber security professional and pay no tuition until you land a high-paying job.

Air IT

Air IT

Air IT are a responsive, client-focused and award-winning Managed Service Provider, helping clients achieve success and transformation through their IT and communications.

Timus Networks

Timus Networks

Timus Networks enables today's work from anywhere organizations to secure their networks very easily and cost effectively.

AHAD

AHAD

AHAD provides cybersecurity, digital transformation, and risk management services and solutions to Government, Fortune 500, And Start-Up Companies in the Middle East region.