National Cyber Security Awareness Month

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Every October we celebrate National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). This is a global initiative highlighting the importance of cyber security.

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It’s important to remember that cyber resilience and data protection is the responsibility of everyone within an organization, particularly if you are handling personal and commercially sensitive data.

To help grow awareness of cyber security both at home and in the office we will be sharing some facts & stats, tips and links to helpful resources.

So with that in mind, it’s time to talk about how you can do your part and #BeCyberSmart

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FACTS AND STATS

• More than 80% of UK Organizations experience a successful attack in 2020/2021

• Over a 12 month period, ransomware attacks affected 55% of UK Organizations

• 13% of UK Organizations ended up paying the ransom

• The average cost of ransomware attacks in the UK was over £616,000

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• Around 10% of people tried to open a phishing link in 2020

• McAfee have discovered over 12.2 Million COVID-19 related malicious files since Dec 2020

• The UK has issued €44,250,000 (£37,681,547) worth of GDPR Fines

• In 2021 so far,the NFIB has received over 19,000 reports of cyber crime, with reported losses of over £10.4 Million (up from £3 Million in 2020)

• The Top 5 Reported Cyber Crimes in the UK are:

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TIPS

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1) Use a Strong and Separate Password for your email

If a hacker gets into your email, they could:

reset your other account passwords
access information you have saved about yourself or your business

Your email password should be strong and different to all your other passwords. This will make it harder to crack or guess.

Using 3 random words is a good way to create a strong, unique password that you will remember.

You should also protect your other important accounts, such as banking or social media.

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2) Create strong passwords using 3 random words

When you use different passwords for your important accounts, it can be hard to remember them all.

A good way to create strong, memorable passwords is by using 3 random words.

Do not use words that can be guessed (like your pet’s name). You can include numbers and symbols if you need to. For example, “RedPantsTree4!”

Saving your passwords in your browser or password manager will help you manage them.

3) Save you passwords in your browser or using a password manager

Saving your password in your browser or password manager means letting your web browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox etc) or password manager remember your password for you.

This can help:

make sure you do not lose or forget your passwords
protect you against some cyber crime, such as fake websites

It is safer than using weak passwords, or using the same password in more than one place.

Make sure you protect your saved passwords in case your device is lost or stolen.

4) Use Multi-Factor/Two-Factor Authentication

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) helps to stop hackers from getting into your accounts, even if they have your password.

Some online banking use 2FA/MFA Automatically. It does this by asking for more information to prove your identity, such as a code sent to your phone or generated via an app.

You can also use bio-metrics (Face ID or Fingerprint recognition) if your device supports this.

5) Update your devices

Out-of-date software, apps, and operating systems contain weaknesses. This makes them easier to hack.

Companies fix the weaknesses by releasing updates. When you update your devices and software this helps to keep hackers out.

Some software will allow for automatic updating which will alleviate some of the stress of remembering to check, a lot of software requires for manual updating.

There are also services such as M-Piric’s Patch Management which not only take care of all the updates for you, but updates are run in a sandbox environment prior to being installed on your device to better test before deployment.

6) Back up your data

Backing up means creating a copy of your information and saving it to another device or to cloud storage (online).

Backing up regularly means you will always have a recent version of your information saved. This will help you recover quicker if your data is lost or stolen.

You can also turn on automatic backup. This will regularly save your information into cloud storage, without you having to remember. (Costs may apply)

If you back up your information to a USB stick or external hard drive, disconnect it from your computer when a back up isn’t being done.

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USEFUL LINKS

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Cyber Action Plan

The incredible team over at the National Cyber Security Centre have put together a friendly Cyber Action Plan – No Sign up required.

Here you will get a personalised “to do” list showing you how to better protect yourself or your small business. Answer a few questions to get your tailored plan.

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Password Manager

Whilst most web browsers offer at least a rudimentary password manager, we would recommend you use a dedicated password manager. Web browsers are typically limited in their features when it comes to managing passwords and most won’t generate strong passwords for you or offer any additional protection as it is simply an additional feature to its core use.

Dedicated password managers have a singular goal and have been adding helpful features for years now as well as constantly improving your password security.

Password Managers we recommend are:

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What sets 1Password apart from the rest of the options in this list is the number of extras it offers. In addition to managing passwords, it will alert you when a password is weak or has been compromised. Like other password managers, 1Password has apps that work just about everywhere, including macOS, iOS, Android, Windows and Chrome OS.

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MYKI locally stores passwords, cards, notes, Government ID cards and any custom category that you create. The Password vault is stored locally and is synced in an end-to-end encrypted manner across the different applications. It offers an incredible password generator allowing up to 200 characters and also works as a 2FA manager. Works with iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, Linux and across Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and Opera Browsers.

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REPORTING

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Fraud and Cyber Crime: If you need to report fraud or cyber crime, please visit the Action Fraud Website

GDPR: If you have been subject to a personal data breach that is required to be reported under GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, please contact the Information Commisioner’s Office (ICO). If there is malicious cyber activity related to this you may report is to the NCSC

Phishing: If you have received an email you believe to be a Phishing attempt you can simply forward the email directly to report@phishing.gov.uk where it will be investigated.

If you have came across a website that you believe is fake or trying to scam you, report it using this online form.

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We hope you found this to be informative and that it aids you in keeping network, your team, and your customers safe from these cyber threats. If you have any questions or would like more advise on how to better protect your business then please get in touch with the M-Piric Team.

#BeCyberSmart #NCSAM

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_team_member name=”Ben Pedley” position=”MSP Service Manager” image_url=”https://m-piric.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/profile-small.png” website_url=”https://www.m-piric.co.uk” twitter_url=”https://twitter.com/ben_pedley” linkedin_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/bpedley/” _builder_version=”4.11.1″ _module_preset=”default” header_letter_spacing=”1px” header_line_height=”2em” position_font=”Share Tech||||||||” text_orientation=”left” width=”50%” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” box_shadow_style_image=”preset4″ box_shadow_horizontal_image=”5px” box_shadow_vertical_image=”5px” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_team_member][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]