Every month we partner with the South West Cyber Resilience Centre (SWCRC) to highlight the latest threats or issues that you should be aware of to protect your small business this month.
- Do you trust Google ads? Criminals pay to get their malicious software to the top of search rankings, so when you ask your search engine to find (recent examples) of VLC media player, Adobe, Slack, Tor or CCleaner, you might download more than you bargained for. Check it’s the official website first.
- If it feels like scam emails are up – they are. One provider found that email attacks increased by almost 500% in the first half of this year, and account for around 75% of cyber attacks. So, make sure your staff are trained on what to look out for… search “NCSC e-learning” for a free half hour package. Although, as above, make sure you land on the National Cyber Security Centre site!
- In a similar vein, if you want to do some very quick checks on your system security, the National Cyber Security Centre has a small suite of tools to verify whether your internet connection is secure, whether your emails are securely set up, and whether your browser is up to date. Search “NCSC basic check service”.
- Do you use Apple for your IT? Don’t feel too invulnerable. Cyber security applies to you too, and they are seeing interesting reports about new tools which can encrypt data on your systems until you pay a ransom.
If you’d like to stay up to date with the latest threats to your business and how to overcome them then why not become a member of the SWCRC? They are not for profit and basic membership is free. They also speak “normal-speak” not geek, so what have you got to lose?
