An astonishing 97 per cent of firms have suffered a cyber attack and yet just a fifth feel prepared to deal with future incidents, according to a new report from telecoms giant BT and consultants KPMG - which is why both Bennett Christmas Insurance Brokers and Computer Systems Engineers Ltd are taking the fight against cyber crime to businesses in Burgess Hill.

In the second in a series of special events delivered in partnership with IT experts, Bennett Christmas and CSE, will help SMEs understand the nature of the threat with tips on strengthening their defences and making sure they’re adequately protected if the worst happens.

“Cybercrime is now the greatest threat to business, but what we’re finding is businesses don’t know how to defend themselves against cyber attacks. In 95% of cases it breaches our defences with a simple click – something which makes prevention all the more important,” said Bennett Christmas CEO Mark Bennett.

CSE will use the event to guide businesses through those preventative measures from building firewalls to building staff awareness.
“Far too many business owners are complaisant to the ever-growing dangers of cybercrime. Cyber criminals are becoming far more organised with their methods, fooling even the most switched-on individuals. By adopting the ‘layered approach’, every one of us can combat cybercrime,” said Computer Systems Engineers Ltd MD Dominic White.

“The modern cybercriminal has been described as a ruthless and efficient entrepreneur supported by a highly developed and rapidly evolving black market. We’re no longer dealing with opportunistic hackers, but sophisticated attackers motivated by big financial gain. No business is safe and all of us need to up our game,” added Mark Bennett. “For example, research suggests only a third of businesses have a formal cyber security policy in place with even fewer – one in 10 – have an incident management plan. And yet we routinely safeguard our company in other ways, such as through insurance and health and safety policies.”

The free Bennett Christmas cyber security workshop, jointly presented with Burgess Hill IT experts Computer Systems Engineers Limited, will look at safe procedures and risk auditing, to give you peace of mind in your work place.

‘Cyber Attack: When? Not if!’ takes place at the Porsche Garage, Burgess Hill on Thursday 15 September from 16:00 to 18:00. To register for the event, contact <a href="mailto:liam.benson@bennettchristmas.com">liam.benson@bennettchristmas.com</a>

…end… 23 August 2016