The digital landscape is changing quickly, and cyber crime is on the rise. Last year there were 2.3 billion reported data breaches, compared to 826 million in 2017. With attacks becoming increasingly sophisticated and hard to defend against, they can cost organisations a lot of money each year. Many of these attacks could have been prevented by making a few small changes in our online behavior both at home and at work.

 

Here at the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Cyber Crime Unit, we are working with the private sector and academia to bring free cyber security products to the region. These products are designed to help educate and raise awareness around cyber security issues inside your organisation, with a view to improving knowledge and encouraging positive.

 

To use some of our products click on the images below:

 

• Cyber Centric - Digital cyber security game. Can you take temporary control of our business and survive a cyber attack?

 

 

 

 

 

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• GoPhish - Free phishing education program. Curious to know how your organisation would react to a simulated phishing attack? Get in touch now to set up a phishing exercise. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Documents

To avoid becoming a victim of online crime you don’t need to be a computer expert. By taking some simple steps you can drastically reduce the chances of becoming a victim of cybercrime,

The 2 documents below are a 'useful links and resources document' and our 'menu of service', detailing what the protect team can offer your organisation. 

  

 

The below social media privacy documents have been produced by Elly Stirling in the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Cyber Crime Unit as a walkthrough to securing your social media accounts. click on the thumbnail below to be linked to the corresponding PDF file.

 

If you are interested in the legislation and safe use of drone within the UK please consider downloading our Drone Education Package. The package has been created in collaboration with Drone Major Group. Click on the image below to download the PDF.

 

WiFi

 

Don’t do banking, online shopping or anything that needs you to enter login details while using public WiFi.

 

Online ID

 

Stop thieves stealing from you: update privacy settings on all social media accounts and only let people you’re connected to see your pages.

 

Phishing

Phishing emails are designed to steal from you by installing malicious software on your computer. Don’t click on links from suspicious sources.

 

Updates

Accept all updates when asked: they’re vital in protecting your computer and your identity from cybercriminals.

 

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Useful Websites

• If you look after a network please join the CiSP (Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership) platform
• 10 steps to cyber security provided by the National Cyber Security Centre
• Weekly threats reports provided by the National Cyber Security Centre
• Various infographics provided by the National Cyber Security Centre

Further resources from the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre)

• Small Business Guide 
• NCSC Glossary 
• Password Guidance 
• 10 steps to Cyber Security 
• Common Cyber Attacks 
• Bring Your Own Device Guidance 
• Managing Information Risk 
• General advice on Cyber Security for Business & Public from HM Government
• Take 5 to stop fraud
• Action Fraud reporting and information portal
• Get Safe Online is the UK’s leading source of unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety
• Government initiative to ensure good cyber security principles - Cyber essentials
• IASME - Governance standard and Cyber Essentials Scheme
• Europol supported ransomware website - No more ransom!
• Information Commission Office - Practical advice on how to keep data secure
• Open University course – introduction to Cyber Security
• Free Online training for business’s of all sizes
• Check to see if your email address has been compromised - Have i been pwned?
• Check the strength of your password - How secure is my Password?

Useful PDF’s on Current Threats and Mitigation

• The Little book of big scams
• The Little book of Cyber scams
• The Little book of Big scams (Business Edition) 

Further Information:

• Make you passwords slightly more complex
  • https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/three-random-words-or-thinkrandom-0
  • Current best practice advises THREE RANDOM WORDS.  Add complexity, convert some letters to numbers and add special characters
  • For example BEACHFENCELAMP, to add complexity 8EACHF3NC3L$MP!
  • Your single most important account and password is your email – effectively, anyone taking control of your email can then reset all your other passwords locking you out.
  • Don’t use words / names / information that may be in the public domain or easily worked out from social media content, such as Mum’s maiden name; Date / Place of birth; pets names; teams you support etc…
  • ALWAYS REMEBER to change default passwords on all SMART devices/routers for your own unique one
  • ALWAYS REMEMBER to log out of sites you have logged in to – especially on shared / public devices / machines

 

• Make yourself more secure at home.  A Secure Device means:

    an operating system and all applications with up to date software patches from their respective manufacturers;

•       an up to date browser

•       an installed fully operational anti-virus product with up to date configuration data;

•       an installed fully operational anti-spyware product with up to date configuration data; and

•       an installed operational firewall

•       enable 2 step factor authentication

• Look at your social media settings…
  • Opt for “Friends only”
  • Be a good friend and change your settings to ‘hide’ your friends list to protect their security too.  Also helps prevent account cloning issues
  • “closed” groups are often open to the public, even though a closed group requires admin approval to join!
  • Whenever Apple, Android or FB app updates, check your privacy settings to ensure they haven’t reverted to the default “public” setting
  • Be mindful that “friends” settings can affect your own security. Your friend “Jack” may comment on your post, but depending on his settings, his friends may be able to see, comment on and potentially share your original post.
  • turn location settings off when you post to social media as it indicates your current location
  • Be mindful of regularly checking in to places as it highlights a pattern – also, remember ‘checking in’ is publically viewable
  • Change Facebook settings make old Timeline posts visible only to you
  • Check that photos are not “publicly available”
  • Opt to approve photos and posts by others before they appear on your timeline
  • Spring clean and remove any posts that may not show you in a positive way
  • Delete any old social media accounts you no longer use