Glasgow Business . 29
www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
BUSINESS CLINIC IT SECURITY
›› RICHARD SMITH, HEAD OF IT AND SECURITY OPERATIONS AT PINNACLE TECHNOLOGY, OUTLINES THE CYBER THREATS FACING BUSINESSES AND HOW THEY CAN COUNTER THE RISKS
If you are worried about cyber threats, then there’s good reasons you should be...
Where do all these threats come from?
Originally many threats stemmed from amateur hackers, motivated either by being able to challenge ‘authority’ or more simply by being technically inquisitive. Tose days are long gone, with sophisticated criminals, organisations and even government bodies probing IT infrastructure 24/7. It is no longer simply spam emails and
viruses that are a threat. Compromised web sites, botnets and the growing popularity of the “internet of things” (for example, applications, social networks and mobile devices) all make the threat landscape a moving target. Advanced Persistent Treats specifically target the data of individual organisations.
What’s the biggest threat to businesses right now?
We have seen a high number of organisations still running Microsoſt XP and Small Business Server. Tese are both end of support for Microsoſt, which means they are no longer being patched for exploits, increasing the risk of being compromised. I can’t help but add one other threat that
is oſten overlooked – your own staff. Either consciously or unconsciously, employees
GET IN TOUCH...
From our base in Glasgow, Pinnacle Technology Group manages the IT and communication requirements of businesses large and small across Scotland. For more information on how Pinnacle can help your business, please call 0800 876 6799 or email
enquiries@pinnacleplc.co.uk
VISIT US ONLINE...
www.pinnacletechnology.co.uk
John macKenzie
may risk your business by puting business data on unsecured personal devices such as tablets; connect memory sticks brought in from home to business PCs; or inadvertently giving out business information on social media.
What’s the chance of it impacting my business?
Tere are numerous instances, some public, some less so, where systems have been compromised with varying degrees of effect. Tere are regular reports in the media of people’s bank accounts being targeted; there was the recent and very public eBay instance. However, even those whose business is not 100 per cent online face risks – there are instances of chip and pin machines being compromised, or corporate data files being stolen and held for ransom by the Cryptolocker virus. Legislation is currently being pushed through EU so that by 2015, any organisation that loses data (through theſt or loss) can be fined up to €100 million.
What can I do about cyber threats?
To put it simply, give Pinnacle a call and speak to one of the team. We are offering a limited number of free IT Security assessments which will cover the areas at risk.
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