For the past decade, the instances of IT related security breaches have become more prevalent and bought an entirely new lexicon into our lives. ‘Phishing’ is apparently not a simple pastime down by the lake but a sophisticated scam over social media to get at your data, there’s also ransomware, botnets, and DDoS to name just a few. Recent analysis suggests that UK businesses experience malware or ransomware every 14 seconds and unfortunately, it’s a growing industry running alongside more traditional forms of criminality.
Businesses across the globe are susceptible to such attacks and have put in place a range of tools and activities to act as mitigation. Your own IT team should be implementing all of these;
- Installation of antivirus and antispyware software
- Firewalls
- Staff training and awareness
- Wifi security
- Regular password updating
- Controlled access to physical hardware and network
- Data backups
- Or alternatively outsource all of this to an expert! JCAD use UKFast Ltd and as data centre they offer extremely high levels of security.
So how can you determine whether or not you are on the right track? Well, here at JCAD although we’ve always taken IT security extremely seriously, we have now also just certified for Cyber Essentials. https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberessentials/overview
If you weren’t aware Cyber Essentials is a government backed scheme that will help you protect your organisation from a range of the most common cyber-attacks such as those detailed above. The self-assessment checklist ensures protection against these threats and provides confidence to you, your staff, and your customers. Of course, mitigation of these risks does not guarantee that your business won’t be affected by cyber-attacks, but they are a good starting point.
NB. JCAD use recognised industry best practice for software design. We have an ISP (Information Security Policy) and a Data Protection & Computer Use Policy. We offer database encryption, single sign on, multi factor authentication and our hosting partners are ISO270001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certified.
