By : Wael Magdy

Spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) is right to highlight the threat to the UK Government’s cyber resilience but post-quantum security pioneers Noaris Protocol warns that it is underestimating the scale of the problem (please see the attached press release).

The NAO says the threat is “severe and advancing quickly” and points to independent assessments of 58 Government IT systems which show “significant gaps” in cyber resilience and says the Government does not know how vulnerable at least 228 legacy IT systems are to cyber-attack.

It highlights skills gaps in the UK Government and says one in three cyber security roles were vacant or filled by temporary staff in 2023/24.

However, Naoris Protocol says the financial and operational damage caused by data breaches is poised to worsen dramatically, fuelled by advancements in AI, quantum computing, and the Metaverse.

New Naoris Protocol research shows nearly half of IT directors at global enterprises predict cybercrime costs will exceed $15 trillion by 2030 - equivalent to the combined GDP of Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom with 9% predicting it will hit $20 trillion, Naoris Protocol research shows.

Its global study with Web3 developers shows the average cost of a data breach could climb to $5.3 million within five years, up from the current $4.88 million.  Almost all Web3 developers (97%) see the Metaverse, AI, and machine learning as accelerants for more frequent and sophisticated cyberattacks.