In our previous newsletter, we discussed the prominent issue of ransomware, and Henry Chaw of IT community, Brigantia, gave his prevention product recommendations.
Now we’re discussing cybersecurity more broadly as a topic, addressing the growing threat as we’re being made aware of new data and phishing scams daily. Whilst some fraud attempts are laughable (like the substantial ‘tax rebate’ you forgot to claim!) others are becoming more sophisticated, and stand a chance of catching even the most IT-savvy businesses out.
Once an attack strikes in the workplace, it can take a great deal of time, money and valuable resources to get the issue resolved. In fact, a 2016 report compiled by the University of Portsmouth found that UK fraud losses across the public and private sectors are estimated to total a shocking £37.5 billion each year.
Considering just how central email is in your day-to-day, it’s perhaps not surprising that this is often the weapon of choice for fraudsters. According to the 2017 Cyber Security Breaches Survey, emails were responsible for 72% of cases where firms identified a breach or attack. Phishing scams, in particular, can be very deceptive; appearing to come from a trusted source or reputable brand and prompting the reader to click a malicious link or part with personal details.
Yet whilst businesses are becoming warier of the problem, a significant proportion are still yet to take appropriate action. The latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey found that 57% of businesses reported they had attempted to identify cyber security risks to their organisation (through health checks or risk assessments, for example) but a sizeable proportion of businesses still do not have basic protections or have formalised their approaches to cybersecurity. In fact, only one third (33%) of businesses surveyed have an incident management plan in place.
Carrying the tagline of ‘more than just accountants’, Hallidays offer their clients a whole host of IT support alongside their comprehensive accountancy and financial management services. To tackle the growing threat to businesses and help clients be vigilant, the team have recently launched a designated Cyber Wise website.
Membership is free for Hallidays clients and includes access to a user forum for to share experiences and receive advice from their team of specialists.
We speak to Hallidays’ IT guru and Network Engineer, Matthew Jones, about the platform and his top tips on staying Cyber Wise;
The biggest risk to any business walks in through the door every morning yet most business owners fail to identify their team as a threat at all. The majority of successful cyber-attacks start with an email, something tempting to get the end user to do something they usually wouldn’t and in a single click it can be all over. Without the knowledge to identify the fake from the genuine, your team will remain the largest threat your business faces when thinking about cyber security, no matter how many security products you install.
Identifying, isolating and assessing the different areas that need a security is your best bet for staying safe. Cyber Wise has been designed from the ground up and takes a layered approach to your security strategy. The standout feature of Cyber Wise is our user awareness training program, which starts by benchmarking your current position. Cyber Wise then sets about improving your position with targeted training and attack simulations which combine to educate your team about the most relevant cyber security topics. Combine Cyber Wise with your traditional security solutions to complete your cyber security strategy.
