THIS week, local IT provider, IT Hotdesk, released a cyber security report highlighting businesses are at risk of falling victim to cyber attacks.
Last year, IT Hotdesk conducted a cyber security survey focused on Aberdeen City and Shire businesses, their cyber security processes, procedures, and training. And as a result, has identified a significant skills gap across the North East.
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The report, which includes an overview of the cyber security landscape in general, an insight into the strength of businesses’ strategies, and both the awareness and confidence of employees’ cyber security knowledge, has highlighted that 78% of respondents felt that their businesses could do more to improve the safety of their business.
IT Hotdesk managing director Gordon Christie, who has over 30 years of experience in the IT industry, described the current skills gap within Aberdeen as ‘concerning,’ particularly the lack of care around employee working from home procedures.
He said, “According to research, only 25% of businesses have invested in staff training over the last 12 months, yet it is no secret that the most common cause of data breach is human error. This week, we’ve seen Arnold Clark in the press due to a cyber attack, which left tens of thousands of customers’ data at risk.
“The cost of a data leak can significantly impact a business, through time offline, any financial repercussions, and reputational damage – so it is important that businesses take it seriously.”
During their research, IT Hotdesk identified that almost 50% of respondents split their time between working in the office and at home, but 72% of businesses do not have any policy in place to support this.
Gordon continued: “As a business owner myself, I understand that budgets can be tight, but investing in a robust cyber security strategy can save you money in the long run.
“This is why we created the Business Insight campaign, a series of educational materials designed to help businesses with limited IT budgets. We’ve created webinars, checklists, and educational blogs that are free for anyone to use.
“We’ve known for a while that businesses need to do more to protect themselves, but the survey results have highlighted that it is worse than we initially thought. Something has to change, or we will see an increase of businesses impacted.”
The full report is available online for businesses to download for free and can be found alongside a suite of webinars and educational blog posts.
