NatWest faces around 100 million cyber attacks each month, as reported by the bank’s head of cyber security, Chris Ulliott, during a session with Members of the Scottish Parliament, according to the Press Association.
The bank blocks approximately one-third of the millions of emails it receives monthly, as these are suspected to initiate attacks on its staff.
To combat this ongoing threat, NatWest employs hundreds of cybersecurity professionals and allocates a multimillion-pound budget. Ulliott indicated that the situation could become more challenging with the increasing use of artificial intelligence.
He also suggested that Scattered Spider, the group presumed to be behind the recent attack on Marks & Spencer, might be a loose international collective of individuals in their teens and twenties, sharing ideas on online forums.