Cybercrime: The growing menace
Over the last few decades crime has changed. Traditional crimes such as theft and burglary have declined and criminal gangs have taken a digital road, exploring and exploiting new opportunities, those offered by the Internet, the ever-expanding world of e-commerce and online banking.
Nobody really knows how big Cybercrime is but, there were an estimated 3.6 million cases of fraud and two million computer misuse offences in a year, according to an official UK survey.
Anyone can be a target. Criminal gangs attack individuals, small businesses and large corporates, in equal measure, seeking to profit from compromised data.
News coverage in the last few days has reported the severity of a recent global coordinated ransomware attack which, caused widespread chaos across the National Health Service and hit hundreds of thousands of computers in 150 countries from Russia to Australia. Affected NHS trusts have been criticised for not updating their Cybersecurity, despite warnings from NHS Digital a month ago that they were vulnerable to a possible attack.
Are you aware of the threat of Cybercrime and is your business appropriately protected?
Increasing your knowledge of Cybercrime, maintaining security measures and implementing good security practices, will go a long way to defend malware (malicious software) and reduce the risk of attack. Almost every business relies on the confidentiality, integrity and availability of its data. Protecting information, whether it is held electronically or by other means, should be at the heart of an organisation’s security planning.
There are 5 things you should be doing right now to protect your business:
- Ensure staff have been trained on how to identify suspicious emails and understand what to do if they receive one.
- Have every PC in your organisation checked that it has had anti-virus / anti-malware software installed.
- Check your anti-virus software is up to date with the latest database.
- Check that updates have been applied to the operating system of all computers in your network.
- Ensure you have a Cyber Security policy in place and check all staff have read, understood and signed off the policy.
By training your workforce and raising awareness you will reduce the risk of being a victim of cybercrime.
The VinciWorks Cyber Security Training Course has been designed to explain the importance of digital information and also discusses the necessary steps we can all take to reduce the risk of Cybercrime.
Different types of Cybercrime are highlighted and explained within the course, including various forms of viruses, worms, adware, spyware, and malware. Being aware of Social Engineering and the tactics criminals use to trick users into providing access or personal information will help employees understand that basic safety checks, safe use of the web and of mobile phones are fundamental in staying safe online. Users will understand the importance of Virus checks, secure passwords, user accounts and browser safety. Additionally, the safe use of devices in public areas is also discussed.
As with all VinciWorks eLearning courses, this Cyber Security Training Course can be customised to meet your individual needs. A designated course administrator can use our integrated authoring tool to edit the text and images within this course and link to your organisation’s specific documentation, all at no extra cost.
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