2019-07-01_Country_Homes_Interiors

AttheendoflAstyeAr,TheGreat

BritishFlorist’swebsitewashacked

bycybercriminals.‘Wewereconfident

thatwehadeverysecuritymeasurein

place,’saysHeather.‘Weuseda secure

server,wewerePCIcompliantandhad

completedGDPR.Butit wasn’tenough.’

Infact,specialistglobalinsurerHiscox

recentlyfoundthata smallUKbusiness

is hackedevery 19 secondsandthese

cyberbreachescosttheaveragesmall

business£25,700inbasicclear-upcosts

everyyear.‘Hackersareprolificand

sophisticated,whichmakesstayingon

topofcybersecuritya challengeforall

organisations,’saysJamesBrady,head

ofcyberatHiscoxUKandIreland.‘But,

asmanysmallbusinesseslackcredible

cybersecuritystrategiestohelpmanage

andpreventsuchattacks,theimpact

whentheyoccurcanbedisproportionately

severe.’If youhavea smallbusiness,

followthesetipsfromJennyRadcliffe,

founderofHumanFactorSecurity,for

howbesttoprotectyourselfonline.

InstAlltherIghtsoftwAre

‘Stronganti-malwaresoftwaremakes

it more difficult to get into business

accounts,’saysJenny.‘Makeyourself

a hardtarget.If you’redifficulttohack,

thecriminalswilllookfora newtarget.’

BeVIgIlAnt‘I’veknownbusinesses

toputphotosoftheirofficesonsocial

media,’saysJenny.‘Theproblemwith

thisis if youzoomin,youcanseewhat

computersandsystemstheyuse,aswell

astheirlocationsandstaffmembers.

Cybercriminalsmonitorbusinesseson

socialmediaandsendtargetedemails.

Then,whenanemployeeclicksthelink,

thecriminalsgainaccesstothenetwork.’

UsestrongPAsswords‘When

emailsarehacked,theygoontothe

darkwebandthenallaccountscan

behacked.Usea passwordmanager.’

edUCAteyoUreMPloyeesAt

least 80 percentofcybersecurity

breachesarecausedbyhumanerror

ormanipulation.‘It’sthepeoplewithin

thebusinesswhoareaneasytarget,’

saysJenny.‘Techgetsmoreadvanced

butpeopleremainvulnerable.Why

bothertryingtohackintoa systemwhen

you can get a person to let you in?’

KnowyoUrVUlnerABIlIty

‘Cybercriminalstrappeoplewith

somethingfamiliar– therightscript

attherighttimewillcatchsomeone

offguard.Therehasbeenanincrease

inspearphishingemailscams,sobe

cautiousaboutclickingonanylinks

inemails.Thecybercriminalswillhave

lotsofinformationonthebusinessand

willhavebuiltupa picturesotheemail

soundsplausible.It couldalsocome

intheformofa phonecall.’

don’tforgetMoBIlePhones

‘Peopletendtobeverycarelessabout

what’sontheirphone,’saysJenny.‘But

it’sasmuchofa computerasa laptop

• youcanclickonlinksonemailsand
  textsthatturnouttobeattacks.’

getInsUrAnCeJamesalsoaddsthat

allonlinebusinessesshouldhavecyber

securityinsurance.‘Itwillhelpwith

practicalsupportincludinglegaladvice,

forensicsandreputationmanagement,

aswellasgetyourbusinessbackup

andrunningquicklyif yougethacked.’

JennyRadcliffe, 0333987 4673,

humanfactorsecurity.co.uk

Follow our guide to combatting cybercrime

SET UP A SECURE

ONLINE BUSINESS

❝

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hasa catalogueoFmistakes behindit – the

important thing is to learn From them

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The one lesson I’ve learnt...

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