Stay Cyber Aware: One in four businesses reported a cyber breach or attack in the past 12 months

Business Biscotti is helping to promote the Government initiative - Cyber Aware

Cyber Aware (formerly Cyber Streetwise) is the government initiative that encourages consumers and small businesses to adopt a set of good online habits, which will protect their devices and information from the majority of cyber threats.

One in four businesses reported a cyber breach or attack in the past 12 months and the average cost of a data breach for a small business falls in the region of £75,000 to £311,000,  PWC: Information Security Breaches Survey

However, taking simple measures to ensure that you and your colleagues are being Cyber Aware can make all the difference in protecting your business from a cyber attack.

Cyber Aware provides a range of advice for small businesses, with the top priority behaviours being:

• using strong passwords made up of three random words
• Always download software and app updates as soon as they appear

This advice comes from experts at the National Cyber Security Centre (part of GCHQ) who are the technical source behind the campaign’s advice.

TRUSTED VOICE: Cyber Aware’s research indicates that consumers expect to hear from the organisations they deal with on cyber security when it involves their personal information so companies all have an important role to play in providing this information.

POSITIVE REPUTATION: “Consumers who trust an organisation to work with them and help keep them secure are very unlikely to look somewhere else because it’s just too scary or too complicated and they want stability”.  Professor Angela Sasse, Director of the UK Research Institute in Science of Cyber Security

SCALE OF ISSUE: Online services are the core function for 53% of UK businesses, and for every one of them, cyber crime is an existential threat. Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute.

The average cost of a data breach for a small business falls in the region of £75,000 to £311,0005,  PWC: Information Security Breaches Survey

Cyber criminals are after your money, your data and your intellectual property. If you haven’t taken steps to protect yourself, take action now. It’s easy to get good, basic protection in place by following the advice of the Cyber Aware campaign.

For more information on Cyber Essentials, click here
http://www.cyberaware.gov.uk/