It's time to act, says Bradshaw
Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw has praised the city’s forthcoming Cyber Security Awareness Week for leading the war against increasing online crime.
Mr Bradshaw said it was a timely reminder for all businesses to review their online security and prepare for General Data Protection Regulation coming into force in May, requiring companies to change the way they capture and store personal details.
Congratulating Exeter-based Bluegrass Group for organising a week long programme of free seminars and workshops, Mr Bradshaw said: ‘ Cyber Security Awareness Week is yet another excellent example of far-sighted local business people taking the initiative to help us all stay safe online.’
The event begins on February 26, with a series of free workshops, seminars and networking events on all aspects of cyber crime, from the real life story of a small local business that was scammed to the tune of £40,000, to an insight into how a computer hacker thinks and works.
Keynote speaker will be Europe’s number one ethical hacker Jamie Woodruff who will provide a fascinating insight into a hacker’s mind with advice on how to protect your online presence.
One whole day of events will be devoted to the implications of the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Delegates will learn how to prepare to be data compliant as well as manage their day to day data protection, new rights of individuals and handling data breaches. The day will include a live data recovery demonstration.
It was the apparent complacency particularly amongst small businesses that prompted Bluegrass to stage the first CSAW event last year. Two hundred delegates attended, hearing from 18 of the country’s top experts in all aspects of cyber security at various venues around the city.
‘Cyber security is a primary risk to all businesses large or small,’ said David Thomas, Bluegrass Group chairman. ‘We all saw how the Wannacry cyber attack wreaked havoc on tens of thousands of organizations world wide last year, including our National Health Service and US delivery service FedEx.
‘But the sad truth is that every single day, businesses across Exeter and beyond are being attacked by ruthless criminals causing disruption or demanding ransoms. At the moment it’s a massively underreported crime because victims are either too embarrassed or worried about reputation damage. Or because they’re as yet unaware they’ve been targeted.’
But Mr Thomas warns the implications will soon be much worse. Breaches of GDPR will be subject to huge fines, depending on how effective their preparation and prevention has been. Fines could be up to € 20 million or 4% of world wide annual revenue and breaches will be made public.
‘Larger companies are beginning to respond by devoting more resources to their cyber security, which unfortunately makes smaller companies even more attractive to hackers. So it’s the smaller business owners and managers that we want to help fight the criminals and prepare for GDPR.’
Sponsoring the event are Exeter based Bluegrass Group, Stephens Scown solicitors, South West Business Connections and Chalk and Ward. International players include business continuity experts Datto and Sophos who produce IT security products.
Cyber Security Awareness Week begins on Monday February 26 and runs until Friday March 2. For more information please visit www.bluegrassgroup.eventbrite.co.uk
