Have you ever received a phishing e-mail or a dodgy text where someone was trying to get you pay money or submit your details?

Chances are that you have. And so has almost everybody that you know.

Now ask yourself a question as a business owner or manager – what are you going to do when you come into work on Monday morning, fire up your laptop only to find that nothing works – you can’t access your e-mail, and all of your files have disappeared? This happens to thousands of businesses every day.

And if you don’t know the answer then you need to do something today; not tomorrow.

Cyber-attacks against businesses are on the rise and there seems little sign that this will change anytime soon. This year, for the first time, over half of all reported crime will be online. This is a staggering increase from just a few years ago and is against a backdrop of huge underreporting. As well as the billions of pounds in stolen money, a cyber-attack can affect your company’s reputation, disrupt your service delivery, and can even have negative legal and regulatory consequences.

So as the owner of business or manager of a charity, with little spare money and even less spare time, what can you do? Well fortunately the government and police have come together to set up a network of Cyber Resilience Centres (CRCs) across England and Wales. Funded by the Home Office and run by the police they help local businesses, charities and the third sector to become more aware of the different cyber threats out there and to show organisations like yours how to reduce their risks online.

Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre Director – former Detective Superintendent Paul Lopez explains: "In spite of daily news stories in the media, and the evidence of their own lived experiences, most of the regions’ businesses are not prepared to deal with the growing impact associated with cybercrime. However, it is not all bad news – the network of centres offers businesses a wide range of free and affordable solutions to help them avoid becoming victims in the future."

Organisations joining the centre are immediately signed up to the free newsletter which keeps members up to date as to what is happening in the world of cyber and what they need to do to respond to it. The centre also offers a free online program called ‘Little Steps’ which introduces members to the world of cyber in bite sized chunks in a practical way. Organisations can use the scheme to effect positive change in your own business or charity. The centres also work with Cybersecurity undergraduates and commercial cyber companies who can provide a range of other cyber services.

So, what key steps should you take today to help reduce your exposure to cybercrime and importantly reduce the impact on your business when you eventually become a victim.

1. Join the Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre today and sign up to our free newsletter.
2. As part of the sign-up process take advantage of a free chat with one of our officers or staff – we can give you crucial information about what to do to protect your business. We may be able to provide you with free staff training (depending on your size and turnover).
3. Use strong passwords and enable multi-factor authentication on key accounts like e-mail and business-related social media – like Facebook Marketplace.
4. Back up your data and make sure the back-up is offline – so if you lose all your data due to a cyber-attack you will be better able to recover.
5. Make cyber a priority area in your business, like sales and marketing – train your staff so that they know to look out for – employees remain the source of almost every cyber attack.
6. Look at you company insurance policy – does it cover cyber, and does it expect minimum standards to be in place. ALL businesses should have some form of cyber cover.
7. Talk to your IT company, if you have one – do you know what they cover and protect you from.
8. Keep up to date with cyber threats – membership of a CRC will help with this.
9. Have an incident response plan in place – what are you going to do in the event of an attack i.e. call your insurance company or IT support.

Paul Lopez sums the current cyber situation up
"The risks associated with cybercrime are high and rising making it crucial that organisations adopt proactive measures to protect themselves. This will mean that you can better safeguard your assets, maintain customer trust, and ensure your businesses’ survival in an increasingly digital marketplace. In the end, cybersecurity is not just a technical issue; it is a critical business priority that demands attention at all levels of your company."