MBE FOR CYBER SECURITY EXPERT

A leading light in the cyber security field was awarded an MBE for services to International Trade and Diversity in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list.

Nicola Whiting, chief strategy officer at Worcesterbased software development company Titania, is an awardwinning mentor who through her work with Local Enterprise Partnerships and government cyber accelerators, has contributed for many years to business growth both locally and nationally.

She served as Worcester’s commissioner for the UK Cyber Science and Innovation audit and is a board member of multiple commercial and charitable organisations which drive innovation, growth and inclusivity.

Nicola believes that business growth and diversity are inexorably linked and organisations that haven’t invested in diversity are at risk of “groupthink” (the tendency for similar people to generate similar ideas).

“Groupthink stifles innovation and is linked to poor quality, unchallenged decision making,” she said. Boards who are serious about innovation, business growth and resilience from risk, look at diversity not as a social exercise, but rather as a key success metric.”

Nicola has received recognition for her work in these areas in the past, including the Sparky Baird Award for her work in AI, the UK Cyber Citizen award, and most recently the Inclusive Tech Alliance Diversity Champion award.

“I’m overwhelmed to be awarded an MBE for services to International Trade and Diversity and incredibly grateful that the honours committee felt me worthy of such an immense honour,” said Nicola.

“Being recognised for work that I am truly passionate about is a fantastic way to start a new decade – it inspires me to continue to serve our local and national communities.”

New technology security a concern for small and medium-sized businesses

A new research report reveals how technology decision makers at Midlands SMEs are prioritising new technologies, digital transformation and cyber security to ensure business continuity.

The State of Technology at UK SMEs report commissioned by Kidderminster based OGL Computer, an IT services provider, has revealed the top technology concerns and priorities for Midlands SMEs.

The report also highlights newer technologies such as robotics and AI that

SMEs plan to adopt, how businesses are using technology to power remote workforces and what technologies they are adopting for growth.

Paul Colwell, Technical Director at OGL Computer and its cyber division CyberGuard Technologies, said: “The inaugural State of Technology at UK SMEs report reveals that IT decision-makers at SMEs have clear strategies for the future, and understand the opportunities and challenges that face their verticals in 2020.

“These range from the ever-present threat of serious cyber attack or data breach, to effectively managing the increasing amount of data flowing through all organisations. Moving to the Cloud securely and an ongoing lack of technology-savvy workers emerged as key themes.

“Handling these challenges, all with a fraction of the resources of their larger, corporate counterparts, requires flexibility and demonstrates the resilience that gives SMEs the power to succeed.”

We’ve all seen the films. The malevolent computer nerd working out of a darkened basement using sophisticated malware to siphon money from unsuspecting members of the public. Dan Goldsmith, Lecturer in Ethical Hacking and Network Security at Coventry University says that although these people exist, around 90 per cent of all cyber security attacks rely on social engineering.

“Broadly speaking, social engineering is the art of psychologically manipulating someone into divulging confidential information. Perhaps the most common form of social engineering is phishing. The practice sees attackers pose as trustworthy sources and send fraudulent emails in an attempt to deceive the recipient into parting with their money and/or personal data.”

At the more sinister end of the spectrum are those who claim to have hacked your email account and attempt to blackmail you into sending them money, says Dan. But he says one of the most common forms of email phishing are the urgent –and grammatically questionable – pleas for money. These amateurish appeals tend to be intercepted by your email’s spam filter, but are a nuisance nonetheless.

Surely noone is going to be duped by these typo-ridden emails written exclusively in capital letters? Wrong.

“Around 30 per cent of phishing messages are opened by targeted users and 12 per cent of those users click on the malicious attachment or link. All it takes is for one employee to accidentally engage with these emails and the whole company becomes exposed,” he said.

“Alarmingly, around one in seven large corporations report a zero spend when it comes to online security. As these social engineering attacks become more sophisticated, it is vital that senior management – often the most targeted by online hackers – raise cyber security awareness within the company.”

Coventry University’s Institute of Coding (IoC) is an Office for Students initiative, made up of 25 higher education institution partners and more than 60 industry partners to develop the next generation of digital talent at degree level and above. Aimed at non-technical computer users who wish to improve their online security Coventry University’s “Introduction to Cyber Security” training course sees students exposed to the methods used by attackers to compromise systems in a safe environment.

Coventry University’s Institute of Coding’s top three tips for good cyber security practice in the workplace:

1. Trust your gut. If it seems suspicious, it probably is

2. Antivirus software alone does not guarantee safety

3. Establish a sensible password policy

Expanding business moves into new premises

Cyber security firm Omni has moved into new offices at a business centre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Omni Cyber Security has taken over two offices at Venture House, which is owned and managed by Stratford-on-Avon District Council.

The firm, which previously occupied a shared office in Solihull, is a specialist in IT defensive security, offensive security and compliance services and is led by business partners Philip Ridley and Andy Collins.

Its new headquarters, Venture House, opened for business earlier this year following the completion of a major project to turn a redundant council building into a facility for small businesses and new business start-ups.

The project has been funded by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) through an award of £450,000 as part of the Growth Deal initiative and led by a team from Stratford-on-Avon District Council.

Omni Cyber Security, which is a certifying body of the Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme, was among the first businesses to occupy space at the centre and Philip said the move had worked out well.

“We’ve been operating for two years now and have grown consistently during that time. We now have a team of eight and we have fairly ambitious plans to keep growing,” he said.