The campaign, entitled ‘Make One Change’, arose as a result of the unique crime-fighting partnership which the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC) fosters between businesses and the police and fire services.
Mandy Haeburn-Little, the SBCC’s director, explained: “Every day we see companies suffer as a result of them not taking some fairly straightforward steps and introducing processes and procedures which could make all the difference in reducing their business risks.”
Haeburn-Little added: “After listening to businesses across Scotland it became apparent that there is a need for simple, regular updates and this is why we are launching this year-long campaign now, just ahead of the new financial year. If a company follows the themes we are carrying every month then, at the end of 2012, they’ll be in a more secure position.”
The themes carried in the calendar of information include smart phones and mobile phone security, securing vacant premises, preventing phishing e-mails and attacks, recognising direct scam mail and what to do with it, metal theft and how to recognise the risks and deterring bogus callers.
These themes will be carried every month on the dedicated SBCC e-crime website and there will be downloads, lots of guidance as well as key information and survey results.
Focus on mobile phone security
Later this week, in keeping with March’s theme of mobile phone security, the SBCC will be launching the results of a recent mobile phone survey showing just how much or how little people are aware of the risks of the security of information held on their mobile devices.
Portable, powerful and increasingly popular, devices like smartphones and digital tablets are putting real computing power into the back pockets of private and business users across Scotland. Connected to e-mail and social media, the technology has moved far beyond phone calls and text messaging, thus the consequences of losing a device are increasingly significant.
Despite the increasing amount of private personal and corporate data held on devices, a recent poll of Scottish smartphone users found that even though around one-in-five had either lost a handset or had one stolen, over 40% didn’t have a passcode to protect their personal information from prying eyes.
Responses showed that this figure placed information such as private banking details, appointment calendars, e-mails, social media details and complete address books at risk.
Gary Ritchie, a police officer and assistant director at the SBCC, observed: “We live in a much more connected world. Mobile devices can be a tremendous boost to productivity with a vast amount of information at people’s fingertips, but this information often has real value and needs to be protected from misuse.”
Basic security steps must be understood
As critical information starts to find its way onto devices that are increasingly neither owned or managed by employers, it’s vital that basic security steps are understood by employees and requested by business owners.
The SBCC survey indicated that 7.5% of users accessed their work e-mail from their personal devices, a trend which is on the increase worldwide and leads technology experts to call for firms to adopt a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy to establish security criteria.
“Employers need to help their workforce understand the issues and take the right steps reduce the risk of loss and theft, both of expensive devices and the data they contain,” urged Ritchie. “Everything begins with setting a password. If we can Make One Change in this area, it should be that.”
Info4Security’s readers are strongly advised to access an excellent fact sheet offering top tips for securing mobiles and other hand-held devices
