Month: May 2016

CiSP – Cyber Security at your finger tips

by
Artificial Intelligence

CiSP stands for the Cyber-security Information Sharing Partnership and has been formed jointly by industry and government which sits in CERT-UK.

What is CiSP?

It is an online social networking tool that was established in 2013 which allows members to exchange information on threats and vulnerabilities as they take place. CERT – UK is the national computer emergency response team with a number of responsibilities that stem from the UK Cyber-Security Strategy. It is used by many businesses across industry and provides reports that help its members to improve their awareness of cyber security threats.

www.cert.gov.uk/cisp

Recently the South West Regional Group launch of CiSP took place , this was the 12th and final launch carried out in the UK. This was jointly sponsored by the SW Regional Cyber Crime Unit (RCCU) , CERT-UK and J.P. Morgan (Regional Champion). The profile of the sponsors demonstrates the importance that attaches to CiSP and the impact that is perceived that it can make in developing the cyber security programs of businesses.

Why should you become a member of CiSP?

  • Early warning of cyber threats that may affect businesses
  • Collaboration between businesses and government in a secure environment
  • Ability to help businesses protect their livelihood from cyber threats
  • Businesses can learn from the experiences of others….both mistakes and the successes
  • Availability of specific sector content on cyber threats and incidents that have taken place
  • Businesses that have a small or non-existant cyber security budget can avail themselves of the information
  • Any business can join and benefit from the scheme
  • It costs nothing to become a member and can help a businesses prepare for a cyber attack

CiSP Membership Link

How CiSP can help a Business?

  • Alerts and advisory papers on cyber security
  • Reports om trend threats
  • Malware and phishing e-mail analysis
  • Guidance and best practice on common areas on both a national and global basis

One of the key features is the Fusion Cell that consists of a team of analysts taken from government and industry who provide source analysis of cyber threats and vulnerability updates.

The scheme is aimed at SME’s who are considered one of the most vulnerable business sectors with varying degrees of cyber maturity. It is therefore important that they understand how to protect themselves from cyber attacks and the resulting cyber crime that can occur.

Industry Endorsement

The British Insurance Brokers Association ( BIBA) is going to sponsor its members to join the scheme in order to help improve awareness about cyber cyber risks that exist.

This will no doubt become a common theme within other industries in the future.

Insurance has a role to play 

Cyber insurers and specialist insurance brokers can also contribute to CiSP by providing current data and information of cyber security attacks and data breaches that they have been involved with and managed.

 

Cyber breaches hit UK businesses

by
Ransomware

Cyber breaches are hitting UK businesses according to a recently released commissioned report by the UK Government.

Two thirds of large businesses UK hit by cyber attack in past year

Following the high profile targeting of  TalkTalk , Vodafone , Weatherspoons it is no surprise that large businesses are still the focus of cyber breaches …… the underlying message to these businesses is that they need to improve their cyber security programs in order to combat these threats.

Main Report Findings

  1. 1 in 4 large businesses encountered a breach once a month
  2. Only one-third of all firms had a written security policy
  3. Only 10% of all businesses had an incident response plan in place should a cyber attack occur
  4. 13% of all businesses set cyber security minimum standards for their suppliers
  5. Only 20% of firms validate the providers of cloud computing services.
  6. 7 out of 10 of the attacks involved compromises by viruses, spyware or malware

Why has this happened ?

The report also highlighted the fact that many firms do not have cyber security programs in place that are in accordance with government guidance such as the Cyber Essentials Scheme and the “10 Steps Guide to Cyber Security”. This is must be a major concern to the Government as these two measures alone would install a good level of cyber security.

Cyber Essentials is generally more difficult to achieve for larger businesses as their systems tend to involve the use of bespoke software and its management. This certification is geared more to standardized systems which is more akin to SME’s . There is therefore a question here whether Cyber Essentials needs to be adapted to larger businesses?

Cyber Insurance

The report also makes reference to 37% of firms having in place some form of cyber insurance , this is either in the form of extensions to professional indemnity insurance policies or stand alone policy specific cyber insurance policies.

A concern raised by the report is that there is a lack of knowledge about what was covered under a cyber insurance policy and the insurance industry therefore has a role to play in helping businesses understand this form of insurance.

Cyber breaches will continue to impact on businesses unless they have a formal cyber security program in place to protect them from the increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks that can compromise a businesses.