Macclesfield IT firm warns of the dangers of cybercrime

Above: Graham Fern, Technical Director for Axon

Macclesfield based IT solutions firm Axon is urging local businesses to look at their cybercrime prevention strategies following a 30% increase in the number of companies falling victim to new viruses and online scams in the past three months. Reports from the annual Crime Survey of England and Wales reveal that online fraud is now the most common crime in the country due to a 39 percent increase on the year before, meaning you’re now 20 times more likely to fall victim to an online crime. Statistics mirrored by the firm experienced across its customer base.

Reported virus attacks include new strains of the notorious Cryptolocker and Cerber ransomware attacks. These viruses are designed to infiltrate and lock down systems to hold businesses at ransom. The fees being demanded to release systems have been known to be thousands of pounds, with money usually commanded to be paid directly into the dark web making the source untraceable and no guarantee of systems being released.

Axon is urging anyone who has been affected, or suspects they have been a victim of the virus, to contact their IT support immediately for assistance and has provided the following tips to help businesses improve their IT security and decrease the likelihood of a cyber-attack:

• Do  not open any email attachments that you are not expecting. Keep all operating systems up-to-date and regularly back up your data. The Cryptolocker virus disguises itself as an email attachment and is designed to infect a machine as soon as it is installed.

• If your employees are using mobile devices, make sure they’re protected with a Mobile Device Management application. This helps businesses control the use of their business data outside of the office.

• Watch what you’re clicking on. Be wary of unknown attachments, links or downloads. Make sure they are from a reputable source. Always read the reviews when downloading apps, and be mindful of clicking on adverts from obscure non-branded “businesses”.

• Be aware of USB drives – if they’re from an unknown source don’t use them. A USB drive containing a virus or malware will infect your systems and could have a devastating effect. Always remember to use encryption if you’re using drives for sensitive data management.

• Social media is one of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to make their scams believable. It’s important for the public to ensure their privacy settings are correct. By changing the visibility of your timeline so only trusted people can interact and see your messages, and being more conscious of the information that you’re putting on the sites, you can help prevent a cybercriminal infiltrating your business systems.

Graham Fern, Technical Director for Axon commented: “1,000,000 people are victims of cybercrime every day, equating to 12 people per second. Cybercriminals work 24/7 to try and get one step ahead of security companies and unfortunately, sometimes they do succeed. Companies are being put out of business with no possibilities of returning, which is why we want to raise as much awareness as possible and help prevent cybercrime.”

Axon is also raising awareness to help businesses with a remote workforce to remain secure. More and more businesses are adopting cloud computing which enables employees to work from any location with an internet connect. Remote working offers business a wide range of benefits and many applications have been developed to ensure that remote working is as safe as possible.

Axon Technical Director Graham Fern added: “Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing crimes of our time. Viruses are designed to infect, threaten, cause havoc and ultimately to make money. Cybercriminals can lurk on a system for up to two weeks before making their move and often, users won’t even know they’re under attack, which is why we’re urging businesses to log onto www.cyberaware.gov.uk and follow the government guidelines”.

Axon specialises in IT security, offers a wealth of free information to businesses via its website and has been working to educate business owners in the area of cyber security in a bid to raise awareness and improve the security of businesses in Macclesfield and the North West of England.

Further information on what you should do if you think you are a victim of cybercrime can be found on the Axon blog at https://www.axon-it.com/blog/.