S P E C I A L F E ATURE GOING HEAD TO HEAD WITH THE HACKERS As moving businesses digitise, they have been exposed to potentially catastrophic risks to the increasing volumes of data they hold about their businesses and clients. Dominic Weaver spoke to EYs Isabelle Dumortier and Thijs Deweerdt about the evolution of these threats and the actions movers must take to mitigate them D ISABELLE DUMORTIER, EY igitisation and data protection are an important part of the newly launched FAIM 2022 Standard. They were among the most-discussed topics at the 2022 FIDI Conference, at which incoming FIDI President Laura Ganon said she considers digital security one of the two biggest challenges facing the international moving industry. During the conference, Thijs Deweerdt, senior manager and internal auditor at EY Consulting, held a workshop for Affiliates to discuss issues of cyber security the protection of company software and data from theft, loss and damage which he says in the past decade has been the greatest emerging risk to businesses. Deweerdt adds that, while many people imagine this as a threat coming purely from outside their organisation, paying attention to internal risk is just as important. This includes ensuring employees are aware of their own responsibilities with regards to protecting 28 FF306 June-August 22 pp28-29 Data Privacy.indd 28 company data and ensuring there are procedures in place to help them do this. This requires both education and planning. Employees can fall victim to social engineering attacks, where they are deceived into revealing confidential information that could be used fraudulently. This includes phishing, where attackers pretend to be a business such as a bank or government organisation to steal data including login details or credit card numbers. Were seeing that these criminals are getting more and more professional, says Deweerdt. Whereas 20 years ago, it was just individuals trying to hack something, now its criminal organisations, who are getting better and smarter, so this is really something to watch out for. Most cyber attacks are focused on making money, using malware or ransomware to destroy, block or gain unauthorised access to data. High-profile recent cases, such as last years customer data leak at French container transportation and shipping company CMA WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 07/06/2022 14:57