Businesses urged to tighten security during lockdown

Businesses in Orkney are being advised to put in place stricter rules around passwords to protect staff and systems, as the country switches to home-working amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Following UK Government advice for businesses to work from home where possible, due to the rise in cases of COVID-19, the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) is warning employers how this can increase an organisation’s vulnerability to cyber-attacks.

SBRC highlighted scams which have already cost UK businesses nearly £970,000 during recent weeks.  It is advising businesses to quickly and easily increase their security by using password manager software and implementing a two-factor authentication.

Declan Doyle, ethical hacking consultant at SBRC, said: “We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of phishing scams since the outbreak of the virus — including fraudulent emails targeting businesses about fake Government tax rebates and Coronavirus funding.

“Criminals are very smart, and as much as we can find, identify and shut down scams, the best course of action is to tell people what to look out for and give them advice to follow to minimise the risk of falling victim to these traps. Increasing your online security is one way to do this.”

SBRC is a non-profit organisation which exists to support and help protect Scottish Businesses. To ensure Scotland remains a safe place to live, work and do business, it will be regularly sharing COVID-19 developments and advice from Scottish Government, their partners and members as they happen. Over the coming weeks SBRC will be holding a series of 60-minute webinars aimed at helping Scottish businesses prepare and survive the human and commercial impacts of COVID-19.

Fort further information, you can visit www.sbrcentre.co.uk