We've received an increasing number of emails (and phone calls) purporting to be from the Inland Revenue, Amazon, Paypal, the bank etc., and personally I've reached the stage where I don't open anything that includes any kind of call to action / link / download.
It’s vital that small business owners secure and encrypt their email systems to protect your business in the event of a cyber attack. So, how can you protect your businesses from fraud and cyber attacks and what should you look out for?
- Always be cautious with any emails you receive - increasingly, scammers are becoming better at presentation! However, it’s still a good idea to watch out for poor spelling, grammar and presentation.
- Check the ‘from’ address, contact information and any company branding - scammers will often use a very similar email address to a genuine sender, but there may be a character missing or a strange name in the address.
- Be particularly aware of any emails with high value invoices or financial details.
- Be wary of any email asking you to enter your account details or check a payment via a link. Most companies will never ask for personal information or bank details to be supplied via email so don’t give them!
- Do not trust any links and attachments in the email. NEVER click on links if you’re unsure. Check whether the linked website is legitimate by visiting the website from your browser and logging in there - you will then be notified of any issues after login.
With GDPR now effectively law, it's a good time to review your own company security and educate any employees and subcontractors to warn them against opening emails from unknown senders, and particularly against clicking on links or attachments in those emails.
Cyber Streetwise and KPMG surveyed 1,000 small businesses and 1,000 consumers across the UK to assess how small businesses feel about cyber security, how they are protecting themselves and the impact of a cyber breach on their reputation. 58% of consumers surveyed said that a breach would discourage them from using a business in the future. Click this link to read the full report.
Providing you know what to watch out for and have put security and backup measures in place, you can protect yourself and your business against cyber attacks.