Topics Phishing attacks using UK government themes more than doubled during 2020, with the largest number targeting the brand of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), according to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Its newly published fourth annual report on the Active Cyber Defence (ACD) service has also highlighted a big increase in phishing using NHS branding over the year. The ACD programme was introduced in 2016 and comprises a number of services to provide protection from online threats, including Mail Check, Web Check, Protective DNS, Exercise in a Box and the Suspicious Email Reporting Service. It identifies phishing – a fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data – as the largest cyber threat involving the public sector. Its figures on takedowns of phishing campaigns show 11,286 for 2020, up from 4,471 the previous year, while the takedowns of URLs totalled 59,435, up from 25,741.