ACT NOW ON CYBER SECURITY MEASURES

Asuccessful cyber security breach not only hurts acompany’s bank balance, but also seriously damages its brand and reputation.

In today’sdigital world, cybercrime has become an increasingly prevalent threat, with an estimated 90 billion cyber-attacks launched every day

This threat affects businesses of all sizes, with the average UK company experiencing at least two significant network hits each month.

Mike Cook, Chief Operating Officer at EBC Group, says: “Businesses tend to fall into two camps over cyber-attacks: those that have taken positive steps to protect themselves (including insurance cover), and those who think –orhope –itwon’t happen to them.”

The truth is, every business is vulnerable to cybercrime, regardless of their size.

Mike explains: “Phishing is still one of the most common threats.

“For example, an ‘actor’ (cybercriminal) can infiltrate a company’se-mail address and then sit monitoring company data for days, weeks or even months.”

Phishing attacks occur when acybercriminal attempts to trick people into providing sensitive information by posing as atrustworthy entity through emails, text messages, or phone calls.

Mike points out that even businesses with cyber insurance can be vulnerable, as three businesses in Worcestershirealonefell victim to cybercrime in just one week.

“They all thought they were protected, they all had cyber insurance.

“But as with all insurance, it is avery good idea to check the small print.

“Some cover is excluded if your IT infrastructureisn’t up to certain standards, and these exclusions are escalating almost monthly as attacks spiral,” he explained.

Having insurance cover against cyber-attacks is hugely beneficial, and most insurance companies now mandate Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus for businesses.

This Government-led scheme uses five key technical controls to reduce 80 percent of common cyber threats.

Once this has been achieved, the accreditation can then be underwritten by a managed service partner like EBC and shows an insurance firm that its client is fully compliant in cybersecurity best practice.

Compliance is particularly important in the legal and financial sectors, where cybercriminals areconstantly trying to infiltrate processes and information.

Stafftraining and awareness arealso crucial in the fight against cybercrime.

New hacks and scams are coming to light every day, and artificial intelligence is increasingly being used as a tool to get into networks, with “self-learning” compounding the challenge.

Diligent research and development areneededto spot these trends early on and keep one step ahead of the game.

To counter these issues, EBC Group organises training sessions, cyber security awareness campaigns and video presentations to help local businesses.

Looking ahead to 2023, EBC anticipates ahuge year of growth.

Mike explains: “In just under three years, BT is moving all its exchanges and networks over to acloud-based IP solution and, as with the security aspect, thereisno room for complacency

“It’svital that businesses areawarethat this is 100 per cent happening, and act quickly to avoid the rush.

“EBC is in avery strong position to help them do just that with our Unified Communications platform.”