Each Sector has its own challenges when it comes to Cyber Security, there are common themes across all of them but priorities can be different depending on the type of businesses you run. Below are just a few examples of what challenges some industry’s face.
1. Legal Sector
- Primary Threats: Ransomware, phishing, and data exfiltration.
- Why: Law firms handle highly sensitive client data, including contracts, litigation strategies, and financial records. Attackers see them as soft targets with high-value data.
- Notable Insight: Smaller firms often lack dedicated IT security teams, making them vulnerable to social engineering and credential theft
2. Healthcare
- Primary Threats: Ransomware, insider threats, and medical device vulnerabilities.
- Why: Patient data is lucrative on the dark web. The urgency of healthcare operations makes providers more likely to pay ransoms.
- Trend: Increasing attacks on NHS trusts and private clinics, often exploiting outdated systems
3. Financial Services
- Primary Threats: Credential stuffing, DDoS, and advanced persistent threats (APTs).
- Why: Direct access to funds and financial data makes this sector a prime target. Regulatory scrutiny also means breaches have reputational and legal consequences.
- Response: Heavy investment in layered defences, threat intelligence, and red teaming
4. Manufacturing & Supply Chain
- Primary Threats: Supply chain compromise, industrial espionage, and ransomware.
- Why: Increasing digitisation (Industry 4.0) exposes operational technology (OT) to cyber risks. Attackers may target suppliers to reach larger enterprises.
- Insight: As noted in internal discussions, supply chain attacks are becoming more relevant than nation-state threats for most UK SMEs
5. Retail & eCommerce
- Primary Threats: Web skimming, credential theft, and fraud.
- Why: High transaction volumes and customer data make retailers attractive to cybercriminals.
- Trend: Attacks often spike during peak shopping seasons. Recent ransomware incidents at major UK retailers highlight the sector’s exposure
6. Government & Critical Infrastructure
- Primary Threats: Nation-state attacks, DDoS, and data breaches.
- Why: These sectors are targeted for political, economic, or strategic reasons.
- Frameworks: The UK government uses the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) to assess resilience in these sectors
Cross-Sector Observations
- Insider Threats: A consistent risk across all industries, especially where remote work and third-party access are common
- Regulatory Pressure: Sectors like finance, healthcare, and legal face stricter compliance requirements (e.g. GDPR, FCA, SRA).
- Cyber Essentials & ISO 27001: Widely adopted across sectors as baseline and advanced frameworks respectively
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