North West businesses have been warned they could continue to see a rise in cyber attacks this year.
The North West Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC). which is based in Greater Manchester, said the particular threats faced by companies include ransomware attacks.
The NWCRC was set up in 2019 as a pilot scheme to support businesses in the region with the growing threat of cyber crime and cyber fraud.
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It was expanded for the North West region and then also rolled out to other regions across England and Wales and included in the Government National Cyber Strategy 2022. The NWCRC now has over 400 members.
Managing director Detective Superintendent Neil Jones said: "Throughout January, we saw an increase of reports of cyber attacks on businesses across the North West.
"Ransomware attacks are definitely an increasing concern, where criminals encrypt businesses' data and offer to give it back in exchange for a sum of money. This can be crippling and quite scary for any business, especially small businesses."
The Government’s Cyber Security Breaches report 2021 found that 39% of businesses reported a cyber breach or attack in the previous 12 months.
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The report found that phishing was the most commonly identified cyber attack on businesses in 2021.
Among the businesses identifying breaches, 83% had phishing attacks, 27% were impersonated and 13% had malware (including ransomware).
The organisation is now offering a fully-funded programme, which allows SMES within Greater Manchester to access training and resources aimed at protecting their businesses and educating business owners against cyber attacks.
Det Sup Jones added: "We’re committed to reducing the number of cyber crime attacks on businesses across Greater Manchester through our funded programmes, which educate, inform and help businesses.
"Now is the perfect time for an SME to take a close look at their business’s online security and understand what type of attacks could happen and how they can be prevented."
Katie Gallagher, co-founder of the NWCRC, said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has made life a lot harder for many businesses, who had to move to home working at short notice or pivot their businesses to survive.
"By employees using home computers and domestic Wi-Fi, this has created many more opportunities for criminals to access various online accounts, through phishing or other means.
"This is a brilliant opportunity for small businesses to learn how to protect themselves from increasingly sophisticated levels of cybercrime and gain access to resources and consultancy from police and cyber specialists."