Malicious email volume

Request

Please find below my FOI request regarding malicious emails sent to the department.

The date range for the request is for 2022. The data shall include a breakdown by individual departments (e.g. separate departments, agencies, or public bodies within the main government agency), if applicable. Where data isn't available for the entire year, please provide the data and timescale it relates to (e.g. X emails over the last 90 days).

1. How many malicious emails have been successfully blocked/detected?
2. If possible, please provide a breakdown of figures by malicious email type, e.g. spam, malware, phishing, and ransomware.
3. What percentage of malicious emails were opened by staff?
4. What percentage of malicious links in the emails were clicked on by staff?
5. How many email accounts/employees are there within your department?

Response

Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

The Gambling Commissions responses to your enquiries are as follows:

1. How many malicious emails have been successfully blocked/detected? 147,424

2. If possible, please provide a breakdown of figures by malicious email type, e.g. spam, malware, phishing, and ransomware. Phishing - 5558 Malware - 48 Spam Detections - 12830 EdgeBlockSpam -128,988

3. What percentage of malicious emails were opened by staff? The Gambling Commission does not hold this data.

4. What percentage of malicious links in the emails were clicked on by staff? We have no reported incidents where staff have clicked on a malicious link in this time period.

5. How many email accounts/employees are there within your department? The Gambling Commission has 546 user and shared mailboxes in total.

Please note, we only hold data relevant to the request for the last 90 days, we have run the report for the 90 days prior to 20/02/2023.

Review of the decision

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.

Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.

If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.

The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in a new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Information Management Team
Gambling Commission
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham B2 4BP