74% of SMEs were a victim of cyber-crime in 2015. Don’t let it happen to you.

Cyber crime cost businesses in Cornwall and Devon £1.9m between February 2015 and March 2016 and this figure is set to rise. What’s more, the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) believe that up to 80% of cyber crime is preventable.

So how can you, and your employees, keep your company safe from cyber crime?

The answer is surprisingly simple. By adhering to some simple best practices and by having an educated work force, you can keep these criminals at bay.

Below is a selection of Acronyms’ Top 10 Security Tips and why they’re relevant to businesses across Cornwall. If you’d like to read the full list, please click here.

Patch, patch, patch!

75% of websites have unpatched vulnerabilities hackers can abuse.

Patches and updates are released for a reason. If a manufacturer finds a vulnerability in their system, they patch it. Your machine or network can become completely unsecure if these aren’t done. These can be automated or are centrally managed by the person looking after the IT network.

Think before you click

51% of emails received by businesses contain spam or are fraudulent.

Good spam software should eliminate the majority of these emails. However, they will never eliminate them all. Always be careful when clicking on attachments or links in emails. If it’s unexpected or suspicious for any reason, don’t click it. There are scammers who will often take advantage of spelling mistakes in a common website URL to direct you to a harmful domain, use fake adverts or even compromise reputable sites.

Create a business continuity plan

On average a small business is a victim of four cyber crimes every two years.

It is no longer a matter of if you’ll suffer an IT security breach. It’s now a matter of when. Having a Business Continuity Plan in place and ready to go, as well as structured plans of what needs to be done in the event of the worst happening will help you get back to normal as quick as possible.

The full list of Acronyms’ Top 10 Security Tips can be found here.