UK Government employees received over 2.5 billion malicious emails last year.

The study was performed by cybersecurity research group Comparitech based off a series of FoI requests.

According to the research, the average UK Government workers received 2,400 malicious emails in 2021. As such, Comparitech estimates that over, with 764,331 government employees in around 260 government organisations, the Government was hit by a total of 2.69 billion malicious emails in 2021.

These emails were designed to spread malware, including botnets and ransomware, gather credentials and other sensitive information, or scam people into transferring money.

Of the malicious emails received, staff opened an average of 0.32% of them, equivalent to 8.62 million. Of those opened, 0.67% of these emails resulted in staff members clicking on suspicious links for a total of 57,736.

The most targeted department was the Government of Northern Ireland. Its 24,122 employees received 833.7m malicious emails in 2021, the equivalent of 34,561 emails per employee.

NHS Digital was the second most targeted department, as 357m malicious emails were sent to its 3,996 employees. This provided the highest per person attack rate at 89,353 emails per employee.

“It’s important to note that those government departments with high volumes of malicious emails aren’t necessarily bigger targets for hackers or have “weaker” security systems,” wrote Comparitech Editor Paul Bischoff.

“Rather, their IT systems may be doing a better job at filtering out malicious emails.”

Recommended

• DIGIT Leader Summit | Just one week to go!
• Could some cryptocurrencies hit valuations of trillions by next year?
• Actors jobs at risk amid rise of AI in entertainment industry

Using historical data, Comparitech found that the volume of malicious emails received by some government bodies grew 24.5% in 2018 to 2019. During the pandemic start of the pandemic, the 2019 to 2020 period, the rate grew 146%. This then slowed from 2020 to 2021down to just over 16%.

In addition, 71 government departments claimed that they had not suffered a ransomware attack in 2021. The remaining 187 did not disclose if they had been attacked or not and only said they had suffered a successful ransomware attack in 2021.

A recent report warned that UK Government bodies, including the Prime Minister’s Office had been targeted by a spyware campaign using the infamous Pegasus software.

Get the latest news from DIGIT direct to your inbox

Our newsletter covers the latest technology and IT news from Scotland and beyond, as well as in-depth features and exclusive interviews with leading figures and rising stars.

To subscribe, click here.