We are coming towards the end of the first quarter of 2024 and, whilst uncertainty abounds, Chaucer‘s “Time and tide wait for no man” seems rather apt. This month we focus on safe use of online services for small businesses and a recent NCA success against Lockbit.
Using online services safely
The NCSC was launched in 2016 and has become a valuable service proving help and guidance on maintaining cyber security. New online guidance has just been launched focused specifically around the needs of smaller organisations. From email and instant messaging, cloud storage, online finances and social media, small businesses need to make sure they are doing everything possible to avoid becoming the victim of a cyber attack. You can see the full guidance here that also provides links to useful checklists but key aspects include:
- Cloud service settings – make sure you check the security settings
- Critical data back-up – even if your cloud service provider has a back-up function, make sure you keep an independent copy of your vital data in another safe place or service
- Protect your public domain name – don’t register it with a personal email and make sure that your domain admin accounts are properly secured
Fighting back
Our regular readers will be familiar with our focus on cyber security and, in our previous newsletters, we have discussed numerous aspects of potential attacks including phishing, DoS, password cracking and ransomware. It can all seem a bit doom and gloom so it’s perhaps heartening to see that the NCA (often referred to as the UK’s FBI) has infiltrated Lockbit’s network (behind many ransomware attacks), taking control of its services and compromising the entire criminal enterprise. You can read the full article here and, whilst it’s good to see one bad actor being dealt with, sadly there are many more out there so we need to remain vigilant.
TECHNOLOGY FIRST