Today, Monday 3rd October sees Cyber Security Awareness Month arrive at The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, which marks the 10-year anniversary of this major campaign.

The campaign first launched in 2012 and is dedicated to raising awareness of cyber resilience and how individuals and businesses across the country can best protect themselves against cybercrime.

To support Cyber Security Awareness Month, The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands (WMCRC) will be releasing a number of helpful resources and guidance materials that follow #CyberSecMonth’s two themes which are Phishing and Ransomware.

This follows a recent Government survey, where it was revealed that of the 39% of UK businesses who identified an attack, the most common type was phishing attempts (83%). Phishing attempts occur when hackers attempt to steal data from an individual or organisation that receives a fraudulent email, text message, or phone call.

Detective Superintendent, Vanessa Eyles, Director of The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, commented:

“Frighteningly, of the cybercrimes reported to the police in the first nine months of this year, the total amount lost is £380,600. If you couple this with the number of small business registrations in the West Midlands region increasing over the last two years, ensuring that the region’s businesses are protecting themselves from cyber-attacks has never been more important.

“As a police-led centre, we have the latest threat intelligence from our colleagues in the region’s forces that we use to inform local businesses of crime trends and ways that businesses can protect themselves. Our support is free and I would urge any business/charity, large or small to join today so we can work with you to increase your cyber resilience.”

Nick Bell, Detective Superintendent and CEO of NCRCG and National Policing Director for the CRCs, said:

“At NCRCG we are very much looking forward to the upcoming Cyber Security Awareness Month. It promises to highlight the vital importance of building our nation’s cyber resilience, as well as the significant work our CRC network and National Ambassadors are doing to support this drive.

“Likewise, we hope that the initiative will showcase – both nationally and globally – how seriously those with a responsibility for tackling cybercrime in the UK are taking the issue. It is something that is being prioritised by police, the government and our country’s largest organisations so that together, we can ensure the UK remains an attractive and safe place to work and invest in.”

To learn more about The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, visit www.wmcrc.co.uk or to discover your local centre, visit https://www.wmcrc.co.uk/crcnetwork.