Charities warned to take care following cyber attack
At the beginning of August cyber criminals targeted an organisation called Beacon, who supply software to over 1,000 UK charities. It is feared that the breach allowed the criminals to access data belonging to the charities, which could include details of hundreds of thousands of donors and service users. Thankfully, early reports indicate that no payment details have been compromised but the charities and their supporters have been alerted and told to be vigilant in case other valuable data has been stolen which will allow criminals to target individuals.
Charites are frequent victims of cyber attacks for a number of reasons, most commonly because they hold large amounts of personal and payment data which has a value to criminals and secondly because many charities lack the resources to build strong defences against attack.
Charities who are concerned about this specific incident can go to the Beacon website where a guide has been published. If Charities are concerned about how they should respond to this incident or want to make themselves more resilient, they can obtain free advice, support and training from their local Cyber Resilience Centre https://nationalcrcgroup.co.uk/ and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/
The NCSC and Government encourages all organisations to obtain a baseline of cyber security with certification to Cyber Essentials, which is proven to significantly reduce the risk of cyber and data incidents https://iasme.co.uk/cyber-essentials/ . Charities can often receive funding and practical support to assist them on their certification journey.
The NCSC and Government also recommend organisations consider cyber insurance, which is designed to provide emergency incident response services, disaster recovery, legal and regulatory support and cover for the costs associated with a cyber or data breach.
If you would like advice on making your charity more resilient to cyber-attacks or you would like assistance with cyber insurance contact BIBA Accredited Cyber Insurance Brokes Sutcliffe & Co on 01905 21681.
