Global hacking attempts will hit one billion by the end of the year, says NCC

HACKING ATTEMPTS across the globe are set to reach one billion in the final quarter of this year, information assurance firm NCC Group has reported.

Detailing the news in its latest Origin of Hacks report, NCC found that 981 million hacks had been attempted globally in the third quarter of 2012, 23 million more than in the second quarter. Following four consecutive quarters of increases, the firm said there is no sign of this growth trend slowing down and the numbers are expected to exceed one billion by year end.

According to NCC, the US is the main source of such attempts, with 20.8 percent of hacking attacks coming from the country in quarter three 2012. The highest growth in hacking attempts comes from Russia and China, with increases of 19.1 percent and 16.3 percent, respectively, originating in these countries in the third quarter compared to the second quarter.

Notably, despite an overall increase, the number of attacks originating in the UK fell by five million in the third quarter to 1.6 percent of worldwide attacks, meaning that the country dropped out of the global top ten countries from which attacks originated.

NCC Group's CEO Rob Cotton used the results to voice his concerns about the UK's foreign office initiatives that he said show an awareness of the issue but alone "are not going to solve the problem".

"We've had copious initiatives and plans announced in the last quarter from bodies and governments aimed at addressing this issue, but the urgency just doesn't seem to correlate with the growing threat," Cotton warned.

"[The] public and private sector must work together, strategically and tactically, if we are going to be able to realistically defend against a billion hacks a quarter." µ