Community Messaging Service helps protect your business

Warwickshire Business Watch is in now in full flow across the county with advice sheets, useful links, news, events and incidents being added to the website and updated via Twitter on a regular basis.

In this contribution to Warwickshire Means Business, we will focus below on the importance to your business of email security. But first the latest on our new alert system, the Community Messaging Service, which is now in operation and going from strength to strength.

CMS allows for multiple messages to be sent out immediately to specific areas of Warwickshire. It comes with a range of features to make the information received more user friendly.

To access the Warwickshire Business Watch website and sign up to the CMS Alerts please visit: www.warwickshirebusinesswatch.co.uk or use the Twitter address @WarksBusiness.

We also now use the ‘Keep Me Posted’ system. This is a national government messaging system which enables the subscriber to receive any information that is added to the Business Watch website directly into their inbox. It covers a range of topics from the local area but also nationally if requested.

To sign up to the Business Watch alerts visit the link:

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKWARWICKSHIRE/subscriber/new?topic_id=UKWARWICKSHIRE_22

Email Security in your Business

Emails have become a way of life; they are used at work, at home and on the move and transcend geographical barriers. However, this development in communication, while massively beneficial in some ways, also has its drawbacks. It has led to around half of all emails sent being spam.

Here we take a look at some of the vulnerabilities and how these can be protected.

Dangers of Emails

• Shoulder surfing - With the increase in mobile technology, employees can now work from practically anywhere, whether this is with mobile, laptop or tablet. The danger of this is that, when you are working in a public place, someone nearby may take the opportunity to watch what you are doing. Always be careful when opening sensitive emails in a public place. This also applies to working with any sensitive data.
• Phishing - Phishing refers to the process of deceiving recipients into sharing sensitive information with an unknown third party (cyber criminal). It is often carried out via email, masquerading as a legitimate source but in fact is looking to steal personal details such as login information.
• Attachments and spelling mistakes – If the email is from someone you do not know and is unexpected, you should be cautious about opening any attachments as they could be harmful to your computer. In order to identify a phishing email as well as unusual attachments, you can look out for spelling mistakes or an unusual email address that sent the email in the first place.
• Spear Phishing – These are specific phishing emails targeted directly at your business. They are often harder to detect as they are likely to look like they are from a company you do business with and will seem plausible.

Working Securely

• Secure Email - There are certain email systems that operate much more securely and offer higher levels of encryption so anything passed through them is much more protected.
• Encryption - Encryption is discussed in detail on the Warwickshire Business Watch website but essentially means securing the contents of the email, i.e. attachments, before they are sent so that if intercepted, the contents cannot be read.
• Staff training - Human error plays a large part in criminals gaining access to your business via email. It only takes one person to open an attachment or click a link which could jeopardise your whole computer network. It is important that all staff are aware of the risks and are always cautious of unexpected emails.

* Warwickshire Business Watch was created in partnership between the Warwickshire County Council Community Safety and Substance Misuse Team, the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Police.