Police offer businesses free help to stop hackers
CYBER ALARM DIGITAL TOOL DESIGNED TO TRACK THREATS
BUSINESSES can now access a free digital tool designed to help understand and monitor threats from hackers
Police CyberAlarm was introduced to selected organisations in the region via the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (Emsou) as part of a pilot.
Following its success, the government-funded initiative is now being rolled out across the country.
Emsou Detective Chief Inspector Phil Donnelly said: “The threat of cyber-attacks against businesses are increasing and police and industry need to work together to combat this.
“Police CyberAlarm is a great example of what can be achieved when policing and private industry work together.
“This tool acts like a CCTV camera, monitoring the traffic seen by a business’s connection to the internet.
“It will detect and provide regular reports of suspected malicious activity, enabling a business to take steps to improve their cyber resilience.”
Once a business or organisation becomes a Police CyberAlarm member, they will need to install the Virtual Server, which will then collect and process traffic logs identifying suspicious activity from the firewall.
The server collects traffic logs, but not the content of the traffic. It is designed to protect personal data, trade secrets and intellectual property. Members receive regular reports revealing suspicious and potentially malicious attack activity on firewalls/ internet gateways.
It details how the attack is happening and where it is coming from, so improvements can be made to the business’s cyber resilience.
It will also help police identify threats and take enforcement action.
Det Chief Insp Donnelly said: “The average cost of a cyber attack to a small business is about £11,000 and there are thousands of successful attacks every day.
“Cyber security should be a priority for every single business, no matter how big or small.
“This is a police-led project, which businesses can trust. There is no catch to signing up; it is being offered free and we want to get as many businesses across the East Midlands on board.
“The more members we have, the more data we get, which will provide law enforcement with a much richer intelligence picture about the current and emerging threats businesses are facing.”