Cyber criminals are increasing their monitoring of UK businesses, scanning online devices over 4,000 times a day to identify gaps in security, according to data from BT.

The company's research finds that retail is the second most targeted sector for ransomware attacks, beaten only by the professional services market.

Over the past year, the hospitality and leisure sector was the third-largest victim, as criminals look to exploit valuable guest data and payment details.

Malicious scouting raids, which increasingly use automated ‘bots’ to look for weaknesses across organisation networks, have jumped by as much as 300 per cent over the past 12 months as hackers focus on web-connected devices.

These devices range from company laptops and mobile phones through to IoT devices, including office security cameras.

BT said that once a system vulnerability has been identified, it can lead to the launch of a cyber-attack such as ransomware, which can compromise an entire business.

The British telecoms giant warned that ransomware hits smaller businesses the hardest, with firms employing fewer than 25 staff the most targeted group for attacks.

“Cybercrime is a threat to all businesses, not just the household names that make headlines when they get hacked,” said Chris Sims, chief commercial officer, BT Business. “Although small businesses often don't consider themselves prime targets, they’re under attack like never before, as cybercriminals increasingly use AI to scan for and exploit vulnerabilities."

The figures come after the UK retail industry became a well-publicised target for cyber-attacks earlier this year, with the likes of Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods experiencing major incidents that had a significant impact on revenue and operations.

In September, Co-op admitted that the sophisticated cyber-attack which impacted its systems earlier this year cost it £206 million in lost revenue.

The retail business was infiltrated by hackers at the end of April following a similar attack on M&S.

During the attack, Co-op was forced to temporarily shut down a number of systems and business services to contain the threat. The company's stock monitoring was also impacted by the incident.

This lead to stock shortages at some of its stores, with the company attempting to circumvent the problem in remote communities by diverting its food and drink supplies to more isolated locations.

Co-op's chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq also admitted that all 6.5 million of its members had their data stolen in the cyber incident.

Fellow British retailer M&S told the BBC earlier this year that the cyber-attack it faced would cost it around £300 million in operating profits.

In June, the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC) classified the cyber attacks on Co-op and M&S as a Category 2 systemic event in its first live public a assessment of the financial impact on the UK of a cyber incident.

Last month, Harrods received communication from the hackers behind a recent breach of one of its third-party partner systems which impacted 430,000 customer records.

The luxury department store released a statement saying it would not engage or negotiate with the cyber criminals.

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