Cybersecurity is important for every organisation. Staff need to be communicated on what cybersecurity is and the importance of it. Most cyber security is preventable as they are due to human error.

Here is a stat for you

Every 40 seconds a business falls victim to a ransomware attack, and rose to every 14 seconds by 2019.

Cyber security is about assessing and resolving issues in your organisation that could compromise your ability to keep information, intellectual property and sensitive data safe.

A Cyber security breach can also risk your reputation so its best to have measures in place which reduces the likelihood of a breach.

National Cyber Security Centre NCSC .

http://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ (http://www.ncsc.gov.uk/)

The NCSC website includes a wealth of information that’s easy to understand. It has many tools for organisations to use too.

Your staff are the weak point in your organisation’s defences. I recommend asking all

employees to complete the free cyber security training on their website , regardless of their level or experience. We are all vulnerable especially when we are busy.

Exercise in a Box is an online tool to help find out how resilient your organisation is to attack. It also lets you practice your response in a safe environment.

Action Fraud is the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre. If you become aware

of a successful cyber attack on your organisation, make Action Fraud your first point of contact.

Action Fraud also offer free services that stop you from visiting malicious websites and

protect you from email fraud whether at home or at work. I have used Action Fraud when I have had phishing attacks the more people report there more the attackers can be stopped.

It does not take long at all

To find out if your security details need changing visit the Have I Been Pwned website. This will tell you if one of your online accounts has been compromised in a breach, such as those which affected Canva and Adobe users. If your email is on the list, but your password hasn’t been changed in a long time, now’s a good time to change it. http://www.haveibeenpwned.com/ (http://www.haveibeenpwned.com/)

Disposing of old equipment

The NCSC has guidance on this on their website.

It is important to dispose of old equipment safely but also by ensuring all data on the hard drive has been erased. There are companies to do this. Make sure you go to a company which provides a certificate.

ask for a CESG certificate for your records and confirmation of the assets destroyed. These should be kept on file for several years.

Did you know the Air Ambulance provides this service? Here is the link https://theairambulanceservice.org.uk/ways-to-give/reuse-recycle/asset-recovery/ (https://theairambulanceservice.org.uk/ways-to-give/reuse-recycle/asset-recovery/)

You can download an audiobook and PDFs from the Met Police site to help you prevent fraud and cybercrime.

The Secure Book PDF features step-by-step guides to securing smart phones, zoom meetings and social media accounts (including LinkedIn).

You should have a password policy so staff don’t create easy to hack passwords. A good way is to use 3 random words which mean something to you and also symbols and numbers. Use password managers. It means staff only need to remember one very strong password and others are behind the password manager for different things they need passwords for For example I have LastPass Free.