A SENIOR police officer and security expert has warned that businesses across Scotland are facing an unprecedented level of threat to their operations.
The comment from Chief Inspector Ronald Megaughin came after the launch of a new self-assessment tool designed to tackle the broad concerns facing commercial interests.
Megaughin – who is also deputy director of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) – said: “The well-publicised growth of cyber crime means that Scottish businesses are facing an unprecedented number of external threats to their safe running.
This is compounded by the movement towards paperless technologies and the increased reliance on IT systems, along with the ease with which valuable information on the organisation can get into the wrong hands.”
The online tool – 10 Steps to Business Resilience – was unveiled by the SBRC after being developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. It is intended to help businesses proactively ensure their resilience.
It includes a series of questions that are designed to prompt internal thought about risk and risk appetite.
The questionnaire is quick and easy to complete and will provide the user with an automated resilience report that will detail the proportionate level of operational risk, and offer suggestions for the mitigation of identified risks.
Megaughin added: “The amount of advice out there can be overwhelming. We have worked in partnership with key bodies to provide a first-stop shop resource that we urge all business owners to use – it could well highlight weaknesses that save them from a future crisis.”
The assessment covers topics such as information management, cyber security, looking after staff and customers, the selection and retaining of staff, along with fraud prevention and understanding and managing risk. Last year cyber security breaches cost UK organisations £34.1 billion and the UK Government’s new national cyber security strategy is certain to focus minds.
However, it will not be able to guarantee our safety and firms need to take responsibility for their own cyber security.
Nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of UK businesses discuss cyber security matters at board level now and talk regularly about it with their clients.
Big companies are seen as obvious targets because of the huge amounts of personal data they hold, but small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are also of interest to hackers and other cyber criminals.
Around 16 per cent of SMEs were reported to have been victims of cybercrime last year, with the average cost of managing each attack over £16,000.
Hackers and cybercriminals see any firm that has customer or financial data as a target, and smaller firms – many acting in a sub-contracting role for bigger companies – are especially vulnerable.
The SBRC was set to create a secure Scotland to help businesses grow safely and its area of expertise covers everything from cyber security to all aspects of premises and employee safety.
It is now considering the concept of an affordable cyber hub for business in Scotland, which would act as a trusted source of advice and cyber security services at an affordable cost.
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