Commander holds one-day conference on cyber fraud

Chief super’s brainchild to help business tackle internet threat

A DEDICATED scout will become the first in his district to be honoured with a prestigious Queen’s Scout Award and will go on to join Her Majesty at the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph next week.

Jacob Spencer, a member of the Ruislip, Eastcote and Northwood District Scouts, was given his award as part of the district’s centenary celebrations.

The first scout troop in the borough was created in Northwood just days after the outbreak of the First World War.

The Queen’s Scout Award is the highest accolade a scout can be given and now the 18-year-old of Pine Gardens, Eastcote, has been selected to be a member of the Queen’s Guard at the Remembrance Sunday Service when the Queen will lay her wreath at the Cenotaph on Sunday, November 9.

A framed certificate signed by Her Majesty the Queen was given to Jacob, a music student at the University of Surrey, at the centenary celebration in a marquee next to the 1st Northwood Scout HQ in Northwood Way. CYBER criminals might stalk the internet, hacking, phishing and defrauding, but help is at hand thanks to a new initiative being trialled in Hillingdon.

The brainchild of borough commander, Chief Suuperintendent Nick Downing, it aims to give small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) an evolving programme of advice and support to help them fend off criminals who might put their very existence at risk.

“If you have a small business hacked, that can effectively put them out of business,” said Mr Downing, whose policing background is in financial crime fighting, and who in his previous role took the lead against ticket fraud at the 2012 London Olympics.

“One of the biggest threats to companies and business is cyber crime, fraud and that kind of thing,” he said.

He has teamed up with Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce, Hillingdon Council and not-for-profit Cyber Security Challenge UK, which works to improve computer security.

Together they will offer a one-day conference on Thursday, November 13, free of charge and timed to be ‘business friendly’ – 6-9pm. The conference, at Hillingdon Civic Centre in Uxbridge High Street, will bring together experts who will explain the scale of the threat of cyber crime to businesses, the types of threat and ways to recognise and protect against them.

If it is a success, it will become a permanent fixture, said Mr Downing, and tailored to the needs of users.

“I will look to run this event regularly around things that business will dictate to me. It’s really about understanding what the threat is and how to protect yourself.”

The conference is open to all businesses. To register for the conference, or to enquire about advice even if you cannot attend, email XHMailbox.partner ship@met.police.uk.

One of the

biggest threats to business is cyber crime. It is about knowing what the threat is and how to

protect yourself”