NS&I has issued a statement to customers following a Freedom of Information request that revealed the Premium Bonds provider blocked 132,126 emails over the past three years, including spam, phishing attempts and malware. The data showed a significant surge in phishing attacks, which rose from 1,043 to 4,414 in the last 12 months.
Spam accounted for the largest proportion of blocked communications, totalling 97,777. The organisation stressed that the figures related only to inbound emails to NS&I and did not include customer emails.
Andy Ward, SVP International of cyber security group Absolute Security, warned: 'Any organisation and any person can be a target for cybercriminals, so it's vital that security systems are prepared to deal with threats, particularly when large sums of money are involved.' He highlighted the use of AI-generated phishing emails as a key tactic.
An NS&I spokesperson said: 'NS&I takes the security of its systems very seriously and has robust processes in place to detect and prevent malicious communications to keep our systems and customer data secure.'
The update comes after a separate incident in which approximately 37,000 customers were locked out of their savings, affecting up to £476m in deposits. Bereaved relatives of deceased customers were particularly impacted.
Charlotte Wilson, head of enterprise for UK & Ireland at cyber security firm Check Point, commented: 'AI makes it easy for cybercriminals to find vulnerabilities. Consumers need to be cautious about sharing personal data, as seemingly harmless details can lead to much bigger breaches.'
