Over 100 million malicious emails blocked by HMRC

• Over 100,000 malicious emails were detected and blocked by HMRC
• These were sent between November 2021 and September 2024
• Critical infrastructure remains a top target for cybercriminals

Over 105,000,000 malicious emails have been blocked by HMRC in the last three years, new research has claimed, outlining the escalation of cyber threats against the UK Government and critical infrastructure.

The news, obtained through a Freedom of Information request (FOI) by the Parliament Street think tank, shows a surge between November 2022 and October 2023 of 40,346,532, a significant increase from the almost 24,000,000 blocked in the same period the previous year.

Critical infrastructure is proving a seriously attractive target for cyber criminals, especially given the urgency of the services they provide and the rise in geopolitical tensions. Consequences of attacks on these providers can be severe, even life threatening, and over two fifths of critical infrastructure has suffered a cyber breach to date.

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A change in gateway

According to the request, HMRC has changed its supplier of its email ‘gateway’ which blocks and categorizes emails, meaning it can no longer break the information down into malware, phishing, spam, or other categories.

There is a recognition by the Government that this is an urgent issue, with the new Cyber Security Bill introduced to protect critical infrastructure by providing essential IT services, covering over 1,000 providers.

This comes after top security officials labeled Britain “shockingly vulnerable” to cyberattacks, pointing to services like the NHS and national power grid - both using third party vendors that aren’t subject to the stringent security regulations that public institutions must follow.

“These numbers show just how relentless cybercriminals are when it comes to targeting government institutions,” says Andy Ward, SVP International at Absolute Security.

“Security teams need to be able to isolate and shut down compromised systems immediately to stop attacks from spreading. With cyber threats becoming more sophisticated, having the right tools and defences in place is more important than ever to protect the UK’s Government Departments."

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