City firm warns of cyber crime attacks on small businesses
Yesterday's announcement that the Government is to pump nearly £2 billion into cybersecurity has been welcomed by an Exeter company already at the forefront of a campaign to raise awareness of online crime in the business community.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has revealed more details of the national plan to protect the UK’s electrical grid and airports plus release some cash towards education and training of cybersecurity experts.
David Thomas, chairman of the Bluegrass Group, said the statement was a welcome reminder to companies of the risks they face from ruthless cyber criminals who are busily pinpointing small and medium sized businesses using sophisticated methods, breaching security, stealing money, data or even holding them to ransom after encrypting their files.
Bluegrass, based in Pynes Hill, Exeter whose clients include Coventry Airport, took on their own expert earlier this year to head up a specialist division advising companies on how to stay safe online.
Mr Thomas said the cost of the most severe breaches for an SME are currently put at more than in £300,000, a sum most SMEs could not withstand.
‘Thieves are becoming more professional and industrialised in their activities, ‘ he said. ‘Cyber security has never been more important.’
Last year the Office of National Statistics estimated that there were two and a half million cyber incidents. In the same year, the Information Security Breaches Survey indicated the scale and cost of security breaches had doubled in 12 months. Yet 70% of these attacks could have been prevented, with four out of five companies failing to understand the dangers of sharing data with third parties.
‘We also know that it’s a massively under reported crime for obvious reasons,’ said Mr Thomas. ‘Companies are severely embarrassed and worry about their reputation and client confidence when they have been hacked. Or sometimes they are not even aware they’ve been attacked.
‘Prevention has always better than cure, but never more so in terms of cyber crime. Invariably we hear from new clients after the worst has happened. By then, they are coping with substantial financial losses, extra work, loss of client confidence and undoubtedly many sleepness nights.’
Bluegrass cyber security analyst Pete Last heads up a team advising clients on a range of options including anti virus, data encryption, email security, firewalls, secure two factor authentication and mobile security.
‘Cyber security really now is a given,’ said Mr Last. ‘This government is investing nearly £2 billion over the next five years in the UK’s cyber defences to urge businesses to report crimes, share information and create partnerships to fight these attacks.
‘Pre Brexit, the UK would have been subject to the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulations coming into force in 2018. These will result in EU member states being fined up to €20 million or 4% of their annual turnover whichever is the greater, for allowing any security breaches to compromise their customer data.
‘I can see fines still becoming a very real possibility in the UK. Firms really have to take responsibility for their own cyber security because once breached, the data can put other firms at risk. It’s a complex business and we’re here with the expertise to help.’
