Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Peter McCall, is urging businesses to check their online security during Get Safe Online week. The week runs from the 10^th – 16^th October 2022.

This year’s theme for the campaign is ‘In a business, cybersecurity is everyone’s business’ which aims to raise awareness to employers and employees on how to keep companies safe from online threats.

Businesses can be a key target for cyber-criminals with the intention of stealing money, customer data, intellectual property, and other vital assets. These losses could lead to reputational damage, regulatory fines, and business collapse. 95% of all cybersecurity issues can be traced back to human error and 43% of these are from internal threats, both intentional and unintentional.

To help protect their business, owners should:

• Buy in security packages to protect their online information from hackers, viruses and other criminals.
• Ensure their employees have the knowledge to identify strange emails or links and know where to report these incidents.
• Introduce an online policy that outlines appropriate use of the internet on business networks.
• Have a strong password policy to protect the business from hackers.
• Control access to your data – a ‘need-to-know’ basis should be applied.

More tips and information can be found at www.getsafeonline.org.

Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, said: “So many of our businesses in Cumbria are online in some form, whether it is online banking, a shop website or business email account etc.

“With so many people reliant on online services, it is extremely important to ensure that we are as safe and protected from online threats as possible.

“The Get Safe Online Week is a chance to remind business owners and employees that we all need to understand what is appropriate to do online via a business account, what the potential threats are and how we can protect ourselves and our livelihoods from being taken from us.

“I would urge every business owner to visit www.getsafeonline.org for tips and information on how to secure their company and to keep an eye out on social media for these tips.

“If you have been affected by cyber-crime, please report it to the Police on 101 or to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.”

In an emergency call the Police on 999

For non-emergency enquiries call 101 or contact www.cumbria.police.uk or call 101