Technology
Cyber criminals are profiting from pandemic, experts warn
Cyber crooks have used the Covid- 19 pandemic to launch a crime blitz against UK businesses. According to accountant and advisory firm Crowe, which has an office in Oldbury, cybercrime has gone through the roof in the past three months, with a staggering 344 per cent surge recorded. Johnathan Dudley, Crowe’s Midlands managing partner, said: “The figures are even worse than they first appear. “The latest UK crime statistics
from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) show an increase of 65 per cent in cybercrime since April 2020, with cybercrime and fraud now representing more than 50 per cent of all crime. “Government statistics for 2019
show that 46 per cent of all organisations suffered a cybercrime breach, but since April 2020 this has surged significantly – through our own calculations we believe there has been a 344 per cent surge in cybercrime in the past three months alone. “Our concern is that many SMEs have taken their eye off the ball
Johnathan Dudley: Covid has led to a staggering rise in cybercrime
while faced with the issues raised by Covid-19 and now Brexit rearing its head again.” Mr Dudley that most large
organisations had sophisticated procedures and defences in place to guard against cybercrime, many SMEs did not, and were regarded by criminals as an ‘easy touch’. He said: “Most business owners
will tell you they are aware of the risks but not so many know how to apply their limited and depleted
Tech firms join forces to offer more services
Birmingham IT support provider Microtrading has joined forces with another tech business, East Midlands-based Air IT. Microtrading said the merger would allow it to offer a wider range
of in-house specialist IT services, and would provide a springboard for future expansion within West Midlands region. Microtrading was founded in 1981, and
has carved out a niche within the sports and recreation sector. The business says it has achieved
consistent organic growth of 20 per cent or more, year-on-year, for the last three years. Air IT is a managed service provider, and
was founded and headquartered in Nottingham in 2005. It provides services to more than 500 SME clients across a wide range of sectors. John Whitty (pictured), CEO of Air IT, said: “I am delighted to
welcome our new colleagues from Microtrading to the Air IT group. “Microtrading is an extremely successful and exciting business, with
a very experienced and talented team. Like Air IT, they are famous for delivering exceptional levels of service to the UK SME market.” Microtrading’s joint managing directors, Andrew Penlington and Neil
Marlowe, said: “We have spent almost 40 years developing and growing our business into a successful and agile organisation. “Now is the right time to take the next step, enabling our customers
to benefit from our significant joint capability and technical investment. “We’re also very aware and pleased that the values and culture of
Air IT are so close to our own. We believe this will make the leverage of our joint services so much more powerful.”
December 2020/January 2021 CHAMBERLINK 67
resources to guarding against the threat of fraud and cybercrime.” The World Economic Forum has
warned that new working patterns, leading to cyber attacks and data fraud, are the most likely technology fallout risk for the world as a result of from Covid-19. Mr Dudley said: “Most
organisations have taken action of some kind but they tell us their biggest challenge is knowing where to target their limited resources, and spend, to make a realistic improvement in resilience to the rapidly evolving cyber threat.” Crowe has developed significant
expertise in this area in recent years, including external and internal vulnerability assessments and searches on the Dark Web for compromised emails and passwords. Jim Gee, Crowe partner and
head of forensic and counter fraud services, said: “The initial stages of a fraud investigation are very important. If you suspect a fraud is underway, before you do anything, speak to a professionally qualified counter fraud specialist.”
Sector Focus
Firm opens Ukraine office
A Marston Green technology company is opening a new office in Ukraine to help reduce the costs involving in developing software and other services. Jumar Technology’s opens
new offshore development centre will be in Kiev, and will be an additional resource to the company’s own in-house capabilities. Jumar, which focuses on
cloud, software and data services, said that its approach to development would still be UK-led, but the Kiev office would help cut the costs involved.
Managing director Matt Fox
added: “We identified that the best option was a centre in the Ukraine, as the skillset is highly comparable with the UK, with a fast-paced and buoyant market. Now that we have established this nearshore development centre, we are in a strong position to consider future development centres in the far-east, to enhance our ‘follow-the-sun’ development service.”
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