by The Commentator on 23 April 2013 12:42

UK Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith has revealed that Britain suffers around 33,000 cyber attacks on average every month.

The hacking and attacking activities are apparently perpetuated by state-sponsored groups and high-tech criminal gangs.

Smith said that the attacks posed an "ever more innovative" threat to British national security.

“Governments are faced with these threats on a daily basis. On average over 33,000 malicious emails are blocked by the government’s gateway to the secure internet. These often contain or link to sophisticated malware made by highly skilled cyber criminals or state groups. A far greater number of less sophisticated emails and spam are also blocked each month... and this is how popular government is.” said Smith.

Smith's comments came during her opening keynote speech of the Infosecurity Europe 2013 conference, where she stressed the need for investment, as well as government schemes to tackle cyber crime.

“Cybercrime, ranging from IP theft, to cyber espionage, to online fraud, costs UK companies billions of pounds a year, and as businesses and governments put more of their operations online the scope for potential targets will continue to grow,” Smith warned.