Ransomware is the most immediate danger to all businesses regardless of size and industry sector. The BBC recently reported that Lindy Cameron, head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has warned that not enough organisations are prepared or have tested their cyber defences. And watching the news you will probably have seen incidents like the attack on Colonial Pipeline that led to fuel shortages on the east coast of the USA. But do you ever see media coverage of the SMEs and micro businesses that fall foul of a cyber-attack?

Picture sourced from recent BBC News article

There never seems to be coverage of high-street retail shops, lawyers, plumbers, small manufacturing businesses becoming the latest cyber-attack victims. But it is happening, and businesses across Wales are experiencing it but the majority of attacks can be prevented by taking simple steps.

Every business has data. This may be on your phone, tablet or laptop. The data could be names, addresses, dates of birth, e-mail addresses, passport numbers and even credit card or bank details.

This is all valuable to the cybercriminal, who may try and blackmail you by making your data unavailable to you. When you hear the word ‘ransomware’ this is where the criminal has locked the owner out by encrypting their data. To receive access again, you will be asked to pay the criminals. So, we at the Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales can’t stress how important it is to put measures in to protect that data, both for the safety of your customers and your business.

But the good news is that there are easy steps to protect yourself such as:

· Having a regular backup of your data

· Using an anti-virus

· Having strong passwords

· Creating a culture where employees and managers recognise attacks

Training and awareness raising are key elements to making your business more resilient, if everyone in the business knows how to recognise phishing emails, then you are stopping the cybercriminal at the first stage of their attack on your data. We offer affordable packages to help with security awareness, which we’d be happy to tell you more about.

And it doesn’t have to be too technical. If you want to understand more about your vulnerabilities, and about the simple steps to take to make yourself more cyber secure, then talk to us at the Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales.

We will avoid technical jargon and keep things simple and easy to understand. You will also get the Little Book of Cyber Scams which will help you understand some of the terms used and useful guidance to protect yourself.

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