October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻? 𝗔 𝗳𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱.

After last Thursday’s event at GreentechHQ with Eveline van Manen and Dafna Peters from Forus P Cyber, there is a lot to be aware of!

Evaline’s opening words got our attention straight away

“Cyber is not just a TECH PROBLEM , it is a BUSINESS PROBLEM.”

Invoice redirection in Ireland is not a distant problem.

It is hitting Irish SMEs today.

Paul Parle Detective Garda Cyber Crime Bureau at An Garda Síochána explained how a simple email tweak can redirect an invoice thus redirecting a real payment to the wrong account!

The rest was as scary as a Halloween story and it is that week!!

Quick checks that reduce the risk

Call the supplier on a known number before changing any bank details.
Use dual approval for payments above a set amount.
Train everyone to spot lookalike domains and urgent payment requests.
Use multi factor sign in and strong mailbox rules to block auto forwarding.
Keep weekly backups and test restores.
Make it safe for people to report a mistake at once.

Helpful guidance in Ireland

See the official advice for Irish businesses on payment diversion and business email compromise.

National Cyber Security Centre guidance on BEC and invoice redirect NCSC_BEC_Guidance.pdf
An Garda Síochána advice on invoice redirect fraud https://www.garda.ie/en/crime/fraud/my-company-has-been-targeted-by-an-invoice-redirect-ceo-fraud-what-should-i-do-.html
ENISA European Cybersecurity Month resources Resources — ECSM

What percent of cyber-attacks target SMEs?

Forus-P Cyber told us it is over 60 percent.

Many SME’s think they are too small to be hacked, yet small and medium sized companies are prime targets.

The moral of the story, take cyber security seriously, educate everyone in your company of the dangers and plan to protect your systems as soon as possible.

If you know it is time to appoint a Cyber Manager or an IT leader with cyber experience, call me in confidence. I meet and interview these leaders every week and can share a focused shortlist that fits your culture and stage.