Cyber criminals will happily count themselves as needy individuals when they steal data, encrypt your files, and then blackmail you for the decryption key. They don’t care about the others that you can’t support; they want your money for themselves.
Unfortunately, most cyber criminals do not pick one target and concentrate on them. Technology now allows them to search huge numbers of websites for vulnerabilities or send thousands of phishing emails in the hopes of finding just one website they can exploit or one people clicking on that phishing link. And they do not have to be very technical astute, criminals can now buy kits and services from other criminals.
Cyber Essentials is a simple and effective Government-backed scheme, supported by industry experts and the Cyber Resilience Centre Network, that will help you put measures in place to protect your organisation, against a range of the most common cyber-attacks. This includes protecting against threats such as malware, ransomware and phishing.
Imagine if your charity had its database stolen because you had a weak password such as mycharity1 which had been previously released in a data breach.
How do you think your supporters and trustees would view the attack?
Too sophisticated to stop or negligence on the charities side?
Telling a victim about the theft of their data when you can say “we did all we could” is a very different conversation to “well, we didn’t have time to implement 2FA”.
By achieving cyber essentials, you will be able to reassure your customers and trustees that you have recognised the threat, risks and have taken proactive steps to minimise the impact.
If you have a turnover under £20m and achieve either the basic level of Cyber Essentials or the IASME Standard, then you are entitled to Cyber Liability Insurance. You can find out more about the insurance cover provided ,here.
The ECRC is looking at helping charities obtain Cyber Essentials through external funding and training. If your charity would like to be considered in this pilot please contact us and let us know.
You can contact the Cyber Resilience Centre for guidance and support through our e-mail enquiries@ecrcentre.co.uk or use our online booking system to make an appointment with one of our team.
Core members receive regular updates which include the latest guidance, news, and security updates. Our core membership has been tailored for businesses and charities of all sizes who are based across the seven counties in the East of England.
Click to Open Code Editor