TalkTalk Cyber Attack Highlights the Risks to SMEs By Adam King

TalkTalk Cyber Attack Highlights the Risks to SMEs

By Adam King Security Consultant at PGI Cyber

I’m sure we’ve all heard of the cyber-attack against TalkTalk back in October. It was big news. Hackers were able to steal sensitive customer data from the phone and broadband provider, including names, addresses, telephone numbers, account information and banking details. No doubt the company suffered massive fines for the lack of security around sensitive and personal data. The problem is, there are much greater costs incurred…

Overall, TalkTalk have estimated a total cost of £60m as a result of the cyber-attack. They have estimated a loss of 100,000 customers, and severe reputational damage will likely decrease the number of new customers signing the dotted line until this mess has been forgotten.

It’s lucky that TalkTalk are such a large organisation. Smaller companies often find a cyber-attack so crippling that they have to close their doors. That’s it. Defeated. Some 13 year old kid can wipe out a decade of hard work to build a company with a few clicks of a mouse and a bit of pitter-patter on the keyboard. You might think I’m oversimplifying the whole ‘hacking’ thing, but in reality, I’m not. It can be very, very easy to exploit a vulnerability, especially if it’s a well-documented one.

Small businesses often find it very difficult to justify the costs involved in protecting against the cyber threat, as their cash flow is restricted, and the majority of profits are pumped into expansion and the efficiency of operations and processes that staff have to tackle on a daily basis. With a bit more education, however, the CEOs and Directors of these small businesses will start to understand the threat. From this position of knowledge, cyber security will seem just as relevant as an alarm or wire fence.

Courses like the Executive Cyber Awareness offer just this; the knowledge required to make effective business decisions on protecting against the cyber threat.

Don’t become a target or victim of cybercrime. 

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About PGI

PGI’s mission is to provide high quality, expert and proportionate services, including raising security awareness and providing related certified education.

Whether you are a small company or large organisation, PGI can help make your business as secure as it needs to be. Our team of world-class cyber experts are some of the best qualified in the country, allowing you to rest easy that you are in safe hands with us.

We were also the first company in Europe to open its own cyber academy, a building that gives us the opportunity to provide first class education and cyber security training. PGI operates on a global scale and truly believe our motto, ‘making the world a safer place to do business.’

Whether you need intelligence, risk mitigation or physical security services, PGI is an organisation you can trust to keep your organisation as secure as you need it to be.

Website: www.pgitl.com