Cyber security experts will demonstrate a live hack to business leaders in Nottingham to warn them of the growing risk of internet fraud and online scams.
Nottinghamshire Cyber Protect Conference has been organised by Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Paddy Tipping, and Nottinghamshire Police.
It will educate businesses on how to protect data and prevent hacking, with forensic security experts demonstrating a live hack to show how easy it can be to get into company systems.
“The purpose is to get across to the audience that the common attacks that we are seeing can be executed very simply in a very convincing way,” said Damian Walton, director of security company IntaForensics.
Damian, who will carry out the non-malicious hack, added: “Once we’re into the victim’s computer we’ll show on-screen a number of actions the attacker can take – such as downloading documents, obtaining passwords and activating the webcam.”
The conference is free and will take place on Thursday, February 9, at The Atrium in Carrington.
It is open to medium-sized enterprises across the city and county – and those interested can register here.
Cybercrime costs UK businesses more than £1 billion every year, yet 80 per cent of these offences are seen by police as preventable.
Mr Tipping said: “Data is at the core of any business and it’s vital firms understand how they can strengthen their security to protect their IT infrastructure.”
He added there’s a lot firms can do to become more robust to potential threats.
Cyber security firm SJG Digital says the best way to stop cyber crime is to educate people before they become victims.
Experts from the firm will give a presentation advising businesses to install firewalls, ensure passwords are strong and advising people to avoid posting any personal information on blogs or social media.
A spokesman for SJG Digital also advised businesses to follow the Government’s ‘Cyber Essentials‘ framework, which outlines five safeguards to make companies more resilient to common online scams.
“If you get these five areas right, you can stop 80 per cent of low-level threats to an organisation,” they said.
One prominent crime involves hackers impersonating chief executives to extort money from companies.
Other scams include gleaning people’s bank details via unwarranted text messages, known as ‘smishing’, and ‘vishing’ – where criminals persuade victims to hand over personal details or transfer money over the telephone.
Mr Walton said the fast-growing crime is CEO fraud, also called ‘whaling’, referring to criminals targeting the ‘big fish’ of companies.
“The criminals will do a lot of online research of chief executives’ online profiles: LinkedIn, Facebook, company blogs,” he said.
“They will identify the chief executive’s gone away on a course or holiday for a couple of weeks and then put a call in, timing that call very, very well to the point whereby the junior member of the company gets a call, reported to me, from the [bogus] chief executive saying to transfer the money to an account immediately.
“Low and behold, money goes out the door never to be seen again.
“For the criminals, it’s financially a huge gain for very little risk,” Mr Walton added.
“The chances of getting caught, compared to normal crimes, are very slim.
“They don’t have to be there. They can be anywhere in the world. As long as they’ve got an internet connection, they’ve got the means to commit their crime.”
The event will run from 9am until 2pm.
