The ultimate guide to cyber security

Survey results show that in the last 12 months, 39% of UK businesses identified a cyber attack, with an average of 97 cyber crime victims per hour. 

Now more than ever, it’s important to prepare your business to combat the most common cyber threats by familiarising yourself with the latest cyber security and ensuring your critical systems are protected to keep your business running.

Read on for the ultimate guide to cyber security in 2023.

What is cyber crime?

Cyber crime is a type of crime that involves computers, the internet and other digital technologies in order to carry out illegal activities.

There are many types of cyber crimes, here are just a few of the main examples;

Phishing 

This is when criminals use scam emails, text messages or phone calls in order to trick their victims into giving away their sensitive information. The messages will appear to be from a trusted source, with the aim to make you visit a website which downloads a virus onto your device or steals your data.

Hacking

Unauthorised access of computer systems, networks or devices with the intent of stealing sensitive information.  

Ransomware

This is an extremely harmful cyber crime threat, involving a type of malware that prevents you from accessing your device and its data. This can involve encrypting data or preventing your access to a system, threatening to delete or leak data unless a ransom is paid. 

Example of high profile cyber attacks

Uber driver driving with satnav guiding them where to go

Gaming giant Rockstar confirmed that a hacker broke into its systems in 2022 and stole confidential internal data. This included footage of the next highly-anticipated instalment of its Grand Theft Auto series. Initially, the hacker offered data related to Grand Theft Auto 5, which has already been released, for nothing less than $10,000.

Uber were also victims of a cybersecurity incident in 2022, with a hacker compromising an Uber employee’s Slack account due to ‘weak security’. 

With even huge corporations like these suffering with cyber attacks, it shows how important it is to have effective cyber security in place.

What is cyber security?

Cyber security refers to the measures and technologies put in place to protect computer systems, networks and your digital information from cyber attacks such as the ones above. 

This can be done in a number of ways, such as implementing strong passwords, installing firewalls and anti-virus software.

5 key benefits of having efficient cyber security

  • Protect your sensitive information such as personal information, intellectual property and finances.
  • Prevent financial loss due to data leaks and potential ransomwares
  • Keep your reputation intact by eliminating data breaches, increasing trust with customers, partners and your own employees.
  • Keep compliance with regulations and requirements such as GDPR.
  • Increase your efficiency by reducing downtime caused by cyber attacks and improving system performance.

What do the tech giants say about cyber resilience in 2023?

Tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Amazon have been vocal about the importance of cyber resilience in 2023. Cyber security should be a top priority for all organisations, and businesses should invest in the latest technologies and practices to ensure they are protected.

Your organisation should be able to prepare for, withstand and recover from cyber attacks, whilst continuing to meet your business objectives. 

How a cyber attack could harm SME businesses

No business is too small to be targeted by cyber attack. Every day, there are 65,000 attempts to hack SMEs, around 4,500 of which are successful.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks due to their often limited resources. A cyber attack could have devastating effects on your business and its ability to recover due to loss of time, money and reputation. 

How Hexagon IT ensures your business is compliant with cyber security

Phishing, mobile phone hacker or cyber scam concept. Password and login pass code in smartphone. Online security threat and fraud. Female scammer with cellphone and laptop. Bank account security.

If you’ve been a victim to a cyber attack or if you’re worried about your cyber resilience, it might be time to review your cyber security measures.

At Hexagon IT, we follow a framework that means your cyber security is a 24/7 focus and our robust Cyber Defence System protects you from online, email or direct attacks on your network. 

Backing up your data

We ensure your data is protected with comprehensive protection and backup of all of your Home drives in the Cloud.

Protecting your organisation from malware

As a small business, you may think you can’t access the most up-to-date technology. With us, you can. We’ll continually analyse all your network traffic to identify and contain suspicious activity and breach attempts. We’ll also receive instant alerts to our service desk on detection of any suspicious traffic.

Keeping your devices safe

We can identify and resolve any vulnerabilities before they cause a problem.

Using passwords and 2fa to protect your data

We encrypt your files so they are only accessible to authorised users via robust 2-factor authentication.

Avoiding phishing attacks

Advanced email filtering to ensure your staff are protected against what is now the most common type of cyber attack.

Depending on your business size and requirements, we have something to suit everyone. We can customise your cyber security using our expertise and extensive resources.

Get in touch today:

Tel: 01442 817641
Email: steve@hexagon-it.co.uk

 

Sources

https://surfshark.com/research/data-breach-impact/statistics

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2022/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2022 

https://therecord.media/rockstar-confirms-cyberattack-leak-of-confidential-data-including-gta-6-footage/ 

https://therecord.media/uber-confirms-it-is-investigating-cybersecurity-incident/ 

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Cyber_threat_report-UK-charity-sector.pdf 

https://www.dbxuk.com/statistics/data-breach-statistics 



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