British telecoms company BT (BT.L) reported that it identifies 2,000 potential cyber-attack signals on its network every second, as cybercriminals increasingly use disposable “bots” to circumvent existing security measures.
On Thursday, BT revealed that digital surveillance activity by hackers deploying malicious scanning “bots” surged by 1,200% in July compared to the same month last year.
The company noted that hackers are expanding their focus beyond traditional sectors like defense and financial services to target industries such as retail, education, and hospitality.
“Our data indicates that every 90 seconds, hackers are probing connected devices for vulnerabilities,” said Tris Morgan, BT’s managing director of security.
BT shared these insights at its Secure Tomorrow cybersecurity event, where it also showcased its quantum-secure communication and AI-driven cyber defense technologies.