Amidst rising cyber crime rates, North West Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC) is urging Cumbria businesses to amp up their defence.

A recent report by Hiscox showed that the proportion of small businesses with fewer than 10 employees becoming victims of a cyber attack has increased from 23 per cent to 36 per cent within three years.

DI Dan Giannasi, head of cyber and innovation at the NWCRC, said: “Usually the most common point of attack for an SME is by a phishing email, where an employee believes it to be a genuine email about an invoice or a service, for example, and clicks on a link.

“From that point, a cyber attacker can quickly take over a whole system and literally hold a business to ransom. One cyber attack can cause significant financial damage and could even wipe out a business completely.

"A Microsoft report stated that by ensuring basic cyber resilience hygiene, like keeping devices and software up to date and enforcing multi-factor authentication, a business can prevent 98 per cent of attacks.

"The weak point for cyber criminals will be a single employee, so it’s good to train as many employees on good cyber practices as possible."

The regional cyber consultant's advice includes employing robust passwords, recognising phishing emails, and maintaining the updated status of all enterprise computer equipment.

The NWCRC collaborates with regional police forces for free training provision to SMEs, funded by crimes' proceeds (ARIS funding). The body plans to extend its free training and membership offer to various North West regions.

Any phishing attempts should be reported to Report@phishing.gov.uk.