We are partnering with the South West Cyber Resilience Centre (SWCRC) to bring you a monthly update on the top three online threats and challenges they are finding for small businesses across the region.
The latest challenges they have seen are:
- Conversational scams are on the rise, with an estimated twelve-fold increase last year. This is where you're approached and befriended on social media before being asked to invest money, usually via cryptocurrencies. Look out for these scams - artificial intelligence is making it much easier to write convincing messages, which come from someone you've begun to trust.
- Business social media accounts are being used to spread malicious software - once compromised, they're edited to include a link to new software which is recommended to clients. Often, this might be an artificial intelligence package which you're recommended to download. Secure your own social accounts with two factor authentication and beware of software downloads via third party sources.
- There is an automated tool which is now scanning WordPress websites for outdated modules. Many sites have lots of different components and if they're not all kept updated, they can often be vulnerable, with a million sites compromised in the last five years. Ask your developer how these updates are applied and managed, and if you want a website check, let us SWCRC know and they can discuss getting their team on the case for you for a small cost.
SWCRC offer lots of support by coming a member of their community for free, including a really easy to read newsletter which explains what to look out for in more depth than this article, but still in a very easy to read, non-technical manner. Find out more here.
