How to understand and implement cyber security in the age of cybercrime.

Just as an introductory I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a 26-year-old mother of two. I love my children more than I will ever be able to explain and enjoy being in the great outdoors with them and my partner at every opportunity. 

So, a little more on topic. I have never personally investigated cyber security for reasons I am unsure of other than the fact that I have a very trusting nature and that I am a part of the last generation before the internet took over the world. I feel that there have been many positives and negatives from the way the internet has developed since I was a child, but one thing is for sure… Now cyber security is more important than ever, in personal and professional life. For community groups, charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups this is now so important as statistics show more of these groups are being targeted on a regular basis.

Every day we hear of a new scam, way of hacking different types of online accounts and it is just so scary. I use my mobile phone for everything these days as it is so much easier to grab and jot something down than a notebook or diary and pen with two young children clung to my ankles. To think that someone could so easily retain all the private, financial and personal information just so easily is genuinely terrifying to me. 

So as one of the last generations that remember or know how things were in ‘the good old days’ I think it’s time to look into the best ways to keep on top of your cyber security, including no nonsense information for all individuals, generations and skill sets to understand; as I have worked within the administration industry for around 5 years I find myself so knowledgeable about some things but also still admit that I need a little extra support or research into others. 

To hopefully shed a little light on the importance of cyber security I have spent some time researching and looking into the best ways to keep your devices secure but also the importance of a cyber security expert and cyber insurance being involved within a business or charity capacity.

Let’s get started with: What is Cyber Security?

In a nutshell Cyber Security is the developed technology that allows you or your business to protect devices and/or networks from attacks, damage or unauthorised bodies accessing data. 

Top 5 reasons for Cyber Security.

1. Protection of your personal information, business or social enterprise.
2. Increase productivity within a charity and for trustees or volunteers. 
3. Improves personal or customer confidence.
4. Eliminates the risk of devices or programs crashing. 
5. Added protection for customers, clients, trustees and volunteers. 

 I appreciate a lot of the information I have found looks more at businesses than personal use, but all the evidence speaks for itself on why it is so important to consider your cyber security in all aspects of your life. 

So, Why Cyber Security?

The main three reasons for cyber security and the sheer importance are confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA). 

• Confidentiality – only authorised persons can access the information or accounts.
• Integrity – Information and/or accounts can only be added, altered or removed by authorised persons such as trustees. 
• Availability – Information and accounts must be available on demand by those involved and how agreed upon.

Threats to CIA of a company, charity or individual include cybercrime that is carried out to either generate profit/financial gain or damage equipment, software or steal secret information. 

Let’s explore the motives.

The 8 main motives behind cybercrime are:

1. Financial loss to the business, charity, social enterprise, community/voluntary group or individual.
2. Causing a state of fear by tampering with or disrupting company infrastructures. 
3. Allowing a platform to share religious or political beliefs/or the breach itself promoting this.
4. Disrupting a community within a charity or business. 
5. Theft of information or data to manipulate or use for personal gain. 
6. Obtaining business or military secrets and/or objectives.
7. To demand a ransom for the return of stolen data. 
8. Attempt to damage the reputation of a business or individual. 

After thinking about all the above motives, I realised there are so many other reasons for cybercrime than trying to obtain someone’s personal bank details. It is so much more than stopping a hacker from taking £50 out of your account or using the data to order items from the internet. This is so important on so many levels for an individual, business, charity or voluntary group, no matter how small or large. There are also so many different types of hackers with different skill sets and tactics to allow the level of cybercrime they are undertaking. 

Now I will get down to the point of all this rambling…

How Cyber Security works and what you can do to stay secure.

In everyday life there are some very simple steps to ensuring your cyber security is working in your favour, i.e. keeping your devices updated, obtaining an antivirus software and keeping your passwords secure. For a total novice like myself it can seem daunting to think that you need all these things to go online but it is so worth it to keep all your information safe and tucked away. 

As a business or charitable organisation there are more things to consider in ensuring your employees, volunteer, trustees, customers and clients are kept safe. I know with all the different software, for an extremely knowledgeable hacker there are still chances to get around this but with the research and even a cyber security expert these threats can be minimized for the peace of mind for everyone involved. Also obtaining support from a trained advisor on cyber insurance and the best cover to protect your organisation or social enterprise will keep things easy if the dreaded day comes that someone does manage to get around this protection.

Things to think about as a charitable organisation, social enterprise or voluntary group:

1. Two-way authentication

Two-way or Multi-way authentication is where a device or user can only gain authorised access to a website or program with two or more forms of evidence to the program involved. Some programs or websites will send a text message or email containing a code, others will use an image-based task to ensure you are not an automated computer or hacker. These things can seem tedious at times, but they are all there for the security of the organisation, customer and clients involved. 

• Secure passwords

To keep your accounts secure all involved should obtain a strong password. A strong password includes, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Using a password generator can be a great way of doing this and ensuring no personal information is included in a password. Make sure passwords for different programs or accounts are different (never use the same password). Short passwords that are made up of only letters and numbers can be cracked in just minutes and are so much less secure. 

Also, another way of using passwords is by protecting documents with a password that only the sender and recipient know to ensure the documents cannot be opened by any unauthorised persons.

• Regular updates

All devices now will alert you when an update is available or needed. It is so easy when you are busy doing something to just postpone these as I have done this myself so many times but setting aside the time when you do not need your device to let it update in the background is one of the simplest ways of keeping things secure. Without regular updates your device will or could be running on older programs that hackers have had the time to work around and find ways of getting into them. Stay safe, run those long updates!

• Antivirus

Most people now know and understand what an antivirus program is. For anyone that does not or is new to this side of things it is a program/software that is installed onto the device that scans for any virus or threat to your device or information. Antivirus software is very easy to come by these days and can be bought with a new device or installed on the internet. Just ensure that the site is not a scam before handing over personal information or downloading anything to your device. 

• Firewall

So, a firewall is a system that in a nutshell acts as a wall between an internal network and the internet that is accessible by all. There are varying degrees of strength and protection, but they basically filter and monitor who and what can come through into a private network. The level of protection needed will depend on the business itself so getting advice is the best option here. 

• No Phishing

Phishing is mainly an email or message sent that asks you to follow a link or complete personal/confidential information. These normally look like they are coming from an authorised person or company but lead you to giving out information that should not be. If you, a colleague or employee receive anything like this, ensure you check that the sender is legitimate and never disclose any information without investigation. 

• Cryptography (encryption)

A very big word yes, I know, and I also had to read it a few times, but this is a big one for businesses that need to keep things confidential. Cryptography is a way of using a sequence of codes that only the creator or authorised personnel can decode. It makes information or communications almost impossible to understand or decode by anyone it is not intended for. 

• Securing DNS (Domain Name System)

Within the domain name system security extension is a way of engineering that ensures the security of any information provided by the DNS used on the internet. This is a system that helps protect information whilst also allowing it to be available to those it is intended for. 

I know this is a lot of information, especially for someone that is not a computer whiz but as I said before it is so important to know and at least investigate or get advice on. As an individual I am now confident that I do everything I can to keep my information safe and secure and I hope that you can too, or at least have the tools to know what to look for and who to ask for help.

As an organisation, charity, social enterprise or voluntary group if you have none or minimal cyber security at the moment, I would strongly advise getting some advice or an expert to find out what will be the best start for you in terms of this and insurance for protection if your organisation was to become victim to such a crime.

I really do hope this has been helpful to some and helped those with no knowledge how to get started on a very important side to our everyday lives.