On Thursday 16 July we welcomed businesses to Zoom for a ‘virtual’ Cyber Security Conference. Previously held in December, the annual event was brought forward as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a new wave of security concerns for businesses.
John Gostling, Managing Director of Breakwater IT welcomed attendees to the conference. Two guest speakers joined the event: Callum Noad of Mimecast and FC (Freaky Clown).
Callum Noad, Mimecast
Callum highlighted some of Mimecast’s key statistics when it comes to internal breaches. They found that 80% of businesses had experienced an incident due to a ‘Compromised Insider’. This is when an employee falls victim to an attack such as Phishing, impersonation, credential harvesting etc. 88% of businesses experienced a breach due to a ‘Careless Insider’. Forwarding suspicious emails or sharing sensitive information with the wrong people are examples of these incidents. Finally, Mimecast reported that 70% of businesses surveyed had attacks from a ‘Malicious Insider’. A ‘Malicious Insider’ could be a disgruntled employee who then steals or leaks confidential information.
Research from Cyren & Osterman found that 90% of security incidents involve human error. Your biggest security risk works in-house. Advice from Callum on the best way to reduce your threat level; train your staff. Mimecast, alongside email, data and web security, offer training for employees. Their aim is to educate and challenge employees to empower them to think before acting. Callum encouraged businesses to be proactive in understanding their risks before an incident can happen.
FC, Cygenta:
Following a short break, we welcomed our keynote speaker for the conference, FC. FC focused his talk on the types of threats businesses should really be looking out for. Whilst many believe the ‘Nation-State’ would be the threat, it’s teenage hackers and criminal gangs we should be aware of. It is important to know what’s in place at your organisation in terms of security, but also to understand that your threat is different to other businesses.
The conference closed with a Q&A session with FC. He reinforced Callum’s point on the importance of training your staff. When asked during our Q&A what his top recommendations were for small businesses to protect themselves, FC said education is “the biggest thing that you can do to protect your company”.
