Dr Gareth Mott

A cyber expert has shared how Stuxnet damaged an Iranian nuclear plant and if the UK is safe from similar malicious attacks. Dr Gareth Mott, research fellow at the RUSI Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London, said that before 2010 similar attacks might have happened, but in the shadows.

Now more than ever, everyone knows that ransomware is bad. But beyond the growing numbers of people impacted and headlines about the financial cost, the fallout from ransomware attacks has far broader implications across the workforce and society. That’s the thesis of a new paper from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a UK defence think tank.

A cybersecurity worker in the financial services industry, for example, pinned the stress of remediating ransomware on their heart attack, which ultimately required surgery to sort out. Another, working for a charity, was hospitalized after their self-care went downhill following a ransomware attack. Dehydration caused by the excessive consumption of coffee, coupled with an insufficient intake of water and pre-existing medical conditions, led to health issues that required medical intervention. These are just two of the plethora of stories revealed as part of a research piece from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) published this week, examining the untold harms caused by ransomware attacks on organizations and their staff.