Cyber Security Lessons from the M&S and Co-op Attacks

M&S and Co-op are huge multi-million pound businesses, but there are lessons to be learnt for small and medium-sized businesses like yours. If anything, smaller businesses are more vulnerable due to fewer security resources.

The most common way that Cyber Criminals target businesses is by using phishing emails and ransomware to try and carry out a data breach. The aim for them, most commonly, is to try and obtain a payment from the business to return their IT and Computer Systems to them.

You can reduce the chances of such a breach with some basic precautions.

Training everyone in your business on how to spot potential threats
Human error is one of the most common causes of security breaches. Educate staff to spot suspicious emails, avoid unsafe downloads, and use strong passwords. Everyone should adopt a “question everything” attitude. If something feels off, it probably is.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Regular followers of ours will know that a week doesn’t go by when we’re talking about this. It’s so powerful, and so easy to implement. This will massively reduce your chances of potential Cyber Security issues. It works by securing your access to your computer systems, with a code sent to your phone, which has to be entered, along with your password, before you’re granted access. Whilst it’s not perfect, the chances of a password breach and someone having access to your mobile phone are quite small.

Regularly Update Software and Systems
Simply put, the older the software you use, the higher the chances of a problem. When software is fully up-to-date, it will have the latest security patches and fixes applied to it, which help keep the Cyber Criminals away. Look upon it as having a brand new car, as opposed to a ten-year-old car. The chances are, the ten-year-old car is going to need a visit to the garage to resolve a problem, before the brand-new one.

Back Up Your Data
Having a secure, isolated backup of your data allows your business to get back up and running if you encounter a Cyber Security issue. Being able to simply roll back to how things were the previous day, for example, can be done very easily, with the right backup systems in place.

Review Access Permissions
Limit who can access sensitive data or systems. Not every employee needs full access, and fewer entry points reduce risk. When an employee leaves the business, their login accounts need to be revoked. There should be a regular check of what login accounts have the highest level of administrator access to your computer systems, and these accounts need to be secured with very long, complex passwords and MFA.

In conclusion, don’t wait until it’s too late…
If M&S and Co-op can fall victim, any business can. The cost of prevention is far lower than the cost of a breach, which can include fines, reputational damage, and business disruption.

We hope that gets you thinking about Cyber Security in your business. It’s far easier to implement changes when they’re aren’t problems. You can check and test things in your own time, rather than firefighting a breach that has already happened.

If you’d like to discuss any aspect of Cyber Security with us, please contact us at hello@lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk or 01527 908646.

Gavin Moorhouse is the owner of Lucid Computer Solutions, based in Redditch, Worcestershire. They have been helping businesses with Cyber Security since 2008.