Every business that uses technology is a

potential victim of cybercrime. Hacking

and malware are becoming weekly news

headlines with the likes of Talk Talk, Marks

and Spencer and British Gas all being

known victims. Businesses are at risk

because there are so many different kinds

of threats out there.

It is important that businesses are

making the effort to ensure that their

computers and networks are secure

because otherwise the business itself is

at risk, not just the piece of technology sitting on a desk!

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www.acutec.co.uk

Ransomware is a form of hostile takeover where an

individual or group take over your computer system

and encrypt data. The data is then held hostage and

will only be returned to you and decrypted if you pay a

ransom fee. Sometimes these can appear with a

countdown and when you run out of time the

encryption key is deleted causing your data to be lost

forever.

Ransomware plays on

psychology, the countdown

forces people to feel that they

have to pay the ransom

because they are under

pressure and time is running

out. It is important to be aware

that there is no guarantee that

paying up will solve your

problem.

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www.acutec.co.uk

Between September 2013

and May 2014 it is believed

over half a million people

were targeted.

STATS

It was estimated in 2012 that one

group of hackers was making

$34,000 a day through

ransomware attacks.

It is believed that $5

million was stolen via

ransomware in 2012.

www.acutec.co.uk

Phishing is where an individual receives an email

from what is believed to be a trusted source.

You could receive an email from what appears to

be your bank asking you whether you spent

money in an unusual country. The email may

ask you to click a link and verify your personal

information. You click the link in the hope of

sorting it out and in doing so provide a

malicious entity with data that will enable

them to access your bank account.////

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//// This is not just limited to email! You

can also receive communication

similar to this by phone call or text

message. Be careful when ‘verifying’ your personal details over the phone.

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SPEAR PHISHING

Spear phishing is a more personal way of trying

to gain your information with an individual

pretending to be someone you actually know

and trust. For example, you could receive an

email from someone you work with asking you to

deposit money into an account. If this is part of

both of your jobs the likelihood is you wouldn’t

question it and would go ahead with the request.

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Sometimes spear

phishing can be obvious.

Look out for irregularities

like shortening of

names, spelling

mistakes or a lack of

usual signatures.

www.acutec.co.uk

VIR

US

ES

The point of a virus is to damage or

destroy the files on your computer. A virus

has the ability to replicate itself and can

enter your computer through an email

attachment or as an Internet download.

There are many different types of viruses

which infect specific different types of data

on your computer.

You should know

that a virus cannot

be spread without

some form of

human interaction

and that is why it is

so important to

have end user

education. Your

employees should

be fully aware of

what is out there.

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www.acutec.co.uk

Trojans come in the form of computer programs with

harmful code inside what appears to be harmless

programming. They will usually appear to be in a form

that is useful or interesting to persuade you to install it. A

Trojan can make its way to you as an attachment in an

email or as a drive-by download.

Trojans are a doorway to many

other different types of cybercrime.

For example they can enable

software that initiates ransomware

to be installed or allow for your

computer to be involved in other

illegal activity such as attacking

other computers.

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www.acutec.co.uk

WHAT TO DO IF IT

HAPPENS TO YOU

Change your

passwords. All of

them.

www.acutec.co.uk

Disconnect from the

Internet so your system is

no longer being

interrogated.

Alert all staff and make

sure that they

disconnect too.

If you have a backup system

in place, open this and create

a restore point so that the

system reverts to where it

was, removing malware.

Advise any clients

to not open emails

from you.

If your data is sensitive you

should contact the

Information Commissioner's

Office to report a data

breach.

Check your insurance

to see if you are

covered for data loss

and disclosure.

Report the case

to Action Fraud.

IMPACT

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If you’re worried

about your business’s

security or this

happens to you then

call ACUTEC on

01675 469020

www.acutec.co.uk

If your IT system is not secure then your business

is not secure leaving all aspects of the business

vulnerable, including:

Client data

Financial data

Website

Social media

Internal and external communication

acutec.co.uk

01675 469020

marketing@acutec.co.uk

@acutec_uk