Lincolnshire businesses told to guard against growing cyber attack threats

Lincolnshire businesses are being told to protect themselves from the growing threat of cyber crime following the recent attack on the TalkTalk website.

Awareness of the modern problem is rising as the reality of how businesses across the county are affected hits home.

The crime type has only recently been included in the stats for offences in England and Wales, with latest government figures revealing 74% of small businesses and 90% of major businesses have had a cyber breach in the last year.

Warnings for Lincolnshire firms have followed the arrest of a 15-year-old boy in Northern Ireland on October 26 on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act, in connection with the cyber attack on the TalkTalk website last week.

The phone and broadband provider had been hacked, sparking warnings from the company that personal information from its 4,000,000 customers could have been accessed.

To encourage Lincolnshire businesses to do more to protect themselves, Onlincolnshire is organising a Business Security Conference in Grantham on Friday, November 27 in partnership with SJG Green Digital and the Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub.

Delegates at the conference, which is being held at Wyndham Garden Grantham Hotel from 9am until 5pm, will be able to talk to suppliers who will be exhibiting during the day.

As well as raising awareness of the serious problem, the event will equip delegates with the skills needed to guard themselves.

Stuart Green from SJG Digital said: “We need to get everyone in the mind set that this is a crime, it needs to be reported and it comes in several shapes and sizes. Often the computer isn’t the source of the compromise – commonly it is the user that’s at fault.

“This conference will equip people with the cyber security skills needed to protect their business now and in the future and we’ll have some examples of just how easily IT systems can be hacked. I can guarantee people will be shocked at how vulnerable they are to attacks.”

Executive Member for Economic Development at Lincolnshire County Council, Councillor Colin Davie, said: “The Government wants to make the UK the safest place in the world to do business online, which is why we are organising this free event.

“Cyber criminals are exploiting basics weaknesses in company IT systems and businesses must do more to protect themselves. This conference will teach people simple ways of guarding against common internet-based threats like viruses, malware and hacking so we hope it will be well attended.”

The onlincolnshire Business Security Conference is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Although it is free to attend, places are limited so booking is essential. For more information or to reserve your place visit eventbrite.co.uk or call 01673 898 001.