WeB Warning SPRING 2015 CyBerCriMe Practical tips to help you protect your business from cyber criminals SPRING 2015 CyBerCriMe in the last edition of Trading Standards News, we shared some handy tips to protect your business from online fraudsters and cyber criminals. in our new online edition of Trading Standards Business News, we look in more detail at some of the practical steps you can take. Strong passwords despite the threat from online scammers, the two most common passwords used online last year were 123456 and password. your passwords will never be secure if they are easily guessed! therefore, avoid using common dictionary words or sets of numbers and words associated with you, such as your name or the name of your business. Your employees are your greatest assets, but they can often be the weakest link in your security chain While it can be time consuming, regularly changing your passwords and using different passwords for different accounts is crucial in preventing online crime. Make your passwords really hard to guess by using eight or more characters a mixture of symbols, numbers and upper and lower case letters is best. there are a number of secure and free-to-use online password checkers that will tell you how strong your password is. backups data stored on a hard drive, such as customer information or accounts, may be lost forever as a result of a cyber attack. keeping a backup, or several, means that a hard drive can be restored quickly and easily. Many operating systems offer programs that will automatically back up data onto a secure part of the hard drive. However, this does not help if your hard drive is destroyed or stolen, so consider copying your data to an external server or the cloud. you should back up your data at least once a day. Restricted access BuSineSS MatterS Trading Standards is committed to making it easier for businesses to comply with the law and Trading Standards Business News is one of the ways we can help you do just that. Formerly Trading Standards News, this publication always focuses on topics that are relevant for people running businesses, helping them to operate safely and efficiently while staying within the law. To check out previous editions, see the home page at www.centsa.org.uk/home If you are viewing this edition on a web browser, you can download the TSBN app for Apple, Android and Amazon devices. your employees are your fIND OUT MORE greatest assets, but they can There is a range of free, online resources often be the weakest link in available to help businesses improve their cyber security and keep up to date with online scams, your security chain. Simple including Get Safe Online and Action Fraud. carelessness, or lack of awareness of common scams involving malicious emails, bogus websites, social media and phishing, can leave the door wide open to scammers and fraudsters. Prevention is always preferable to detection and businesses should consider introducing strong preventative measures. ideally, business computers should never be used for social web surfing, email or social media. Businesses should pay special attention to their inbox: spam filters will remove some bogus emails, but scammers are cunning and every email, however innocuous or genuine it may appear, should be treated as a potential threat. access to business computers and accounts should be limited to those who really need it and all staff should receive regular updates on common internet business scams. Credits: Simon Cripwell images: frank_peters / Shutterstock