Yesterday’s national cyber security strategy announcement from the Government and confirmation that it will pump nearly £2 billion into cyber security is welcome news.

Chancellor Philip Hammond revealed further details of the national cyber security plan to protect the UK’s electrical grid and airports plus release some cash towards education and training of cyber security experts. The government is investing nearly £2 billion over the next five years in the UK’s cyber defences to urge businesses to report crimes, share information and create partnerships to fight these attacks.

Cyber security has never been more important. Ruthless cyber criminals are busily pinpointing small and medium sized businesses and using sophisticated methods to breach security, steal money and valuable data.

Last year the Office of National Statistics estimated that there were two and a half million cyber incidents.  In the same year, the Information Security Breaches Survey indicated the scale and cost of  security breaches had doubled in 12 months.  Yet 70% of these attacks could have been prevented, with four out of five companies failing to understand the dangers of sharing data with third parties.

Earlier on this year we took on our own expert to head up a specialist division advising our clients on how to stay safe online. Cyber security analyst Pete Last heads up a team advising our clients on a range of options including anti virus, data encryption, email security, firewalls, secure two factor authentication and mobile security.

Pre Brexit, the UK would have been subject to the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulations coming into force in 2018.  These will result in EU member states being fined up to €20 million or 4% of their annual turnover whichever is the greater, for allowing any security breaches to compromise their customer data.

We can see fines still becoming a very real possibility in the UK.  Firms really have to take responsibility for their own cyber security because once breached, the data can put other firms at risk.

Prevention has always better than cure, but never more so in terms of cyber crime.

Cyber security is a complex business. If you’d like help or advice on any aspect of cyber security please email us at cybersecurity@bluegrass-group.com or by phone on 01392 207194 and we’ll be happy to assist.