Government Announces £100m IT Boost for UK Police

The UK government has pledged £100m to drive digital transformation in the police force, helping it tackle cybercrime and improve its controversial use of biometrics.

The home secretary has already approved £70m of the Police Transformation Fund allocation to four projects.

A National Enabling Programme will create a unified IT system across police forces to “deliver more joined-up working within and between forces,” while a Digital Policing Portfolio aims to create an online hub where members of the public can report low-level incidents, rather than at their local station.

However, the Specialist Capabilities Programme has the biggest impact in the cyber-policing sphere, aiming to improve resource-sharing between forces.

“In cybercrime, for example, the program seeks to ensure forces can tackle digitally-dependent crime, with oversight provided through regional organized crime units (ROCUs),” the government claimed.

The idea throughout is that these initiatives drive efficiencies and cash savings, freeing up police to focus on frontline tasks rather than being saddled with back-office bureaucracy.

Perhaps the most controversial area to receive funding is biometrics. A Transforming Forensics program is designed to “improve how biometric services and digital forensics are used, including the development of a 24/7, faster, fingerprint identification service.” Access Control Security

It’s an area in which the police in the UK have so far consistently failed.

A Big Brother Watch report from May called on the police to abandon its “dangerous and inaccurate” facial recognition technology after FoI responses from three forces revealed a false positive rate of 98%, despite an investment of millions of pounds of taxpayer funds.

The wider investment in IT for the police force is to be welcomed, although there’s still a concerning dearth of officers trained in cyber-skills, according to several reports.

Most recently thinktank Reform called on the government to create a digital academy to train specialist cyber police officers, and increase the number of volunteers with these skills.

It recommended a new digital academy capable of graduating 1700 officers and staff each year, and an increase in the current 40 volunteers with cyber-skills to 12,000.

With the recent news that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, are in the process of launching a cybersecurity company, and the scandal surrounding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, there’s never been a better time to ensure that your business is practising proper cybersecurity. In 2018, cybersecurity is just as pressing an issue as physical security. Data breeches can ruin businesses. Let’s take a look at some of the key ways to ensure that your data is kept safe.

Firewalls and Antivirus Software

It seems obvious, but there’s no overstating the importance of Firewalls and Antivirus software. With new viruses being developed every day to steal your login credentials, erase data or brick your computer it’s important to invest in software that works. Investing in good software on all accounts, creating strong passwords and scheduling time for crucial updates are vital for cybersecurity.

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Data Backups and Cybersecurity

It’s important to make regular backups of your business’ important data, and also to test that these backups can be restored. This will increase your cybersecurity in the case of physical damage to your building’s computers, from fire or theft, or from cybercrime such as ransomware.

Ensure that backing up your important data is part of your everyday work. Backing up to the cloud will ensure that your data can be accessed anywhere and won’t be affected by anything bad that happens to your office.

Access Control for Cybersecurity?

Once you’ve ensured that your computers are secure, it’s time to look at physical security. Criminals can steal your data by infiltrating your company. Criminals will often try to take control of personal or confidential data in order to damage your business; access control is ideal for preventing unauthorised people from accessing your building and can be considered a key part of cybersecurity.

For more information about access control for your business, or other important physical security measures, get in touch today!

Get in touch with Veritech Systems!

The last thing any business wants when they’re trying to complete a building project is attacks from trespassers and vandals. Unfortunately, a site that’s unmanned is a likely target for criminals so it’s important to invest in the proper construction site security measures to keep your site safe and your project meeting its deadlines.

CCTV

CCTV surveillance is a great way to deter trespassers from setting foot on your construction site. A CCTV system from Hikvision is guaranteed to be made to the highest standards of quality and are perfect for any property. It is important to ensure that you are placing your CCTV cameras in suitable places; check our post on the precise placements of CCTV cameras for more information.
Prominently displaying your CCTV cameras works as an incredible deterrent for would-be intruders. In the case of vandalism or theft, CCTV footage can act as evidence that will make prosecution easier.

Learn more about CCTV cameras

Wireless Alarm Systems

A wireless alarm system comes equipped with infrared movement sensors which will alert the authorities in the case of your site being broken into. This means that the situation will be dealt with before it’s had a chance to become a problem. This saves you both time and money; wireless alarms are a vital solution to the problem of construction site security.

Keep Construction Sites Well Lit

Criminals are most comfortable operating under the cover of darkness. This is namely that it makes them harder to see and a construction site is more likely to be unmanned at night. Keeping the site well-lit is a simple but effective way to keep criminals off of your property.

Mobile Patrols Increase Construction Site Security

One of the most effective deterrents for trespassers or vandals is the use of mobile patrols. Physical guards will secure the perimeter of your site and stop intruders before they even set foot on the property. You can even opt for a dog-handler to be present on your property to act as further incentive to stay off of your site!

Secure Windows and Doors

It’s important to ensure that any windows and doors on your construction site are adequately secured. This means locking them but also, in some cases, boarding them up to stop intruders from breaking the glass and letting themselves in.
Contact us now for a free site survey to check the security of your construction site. For more information about keeping your property secure or any of our services, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

In 2017 physical security systems are not enough on their own. An increased reliance on computers and the internet means that cyber security is more important than ever. Maintaining a high level of cyber security is vital to protect sensitive information and details about your customers.

There are a number of ways to protect your business’ information; cyber security doesn’t simply stop at installing anti-virus software and a firewall. This post will explore some of the methods you can use to keep sensitive data about your company and clients safe from the hands of criminals.

What Methods Will Criminals Use To Access Sensitive Information?

Firstly, it is important to make sure that your company’s computer system is adequately protected. This means that you will need to install and regularly update your antivirus software. If your company uses Windows computers, it is also important to ensure that you are up to date with installing patches that protect against malicious software and files.

You will also need to educate your staff on the dangers of email phishing. Phishing emails attempt to trick people into providing their financial information. This is often achieved by sending official-looking messages, often claiming to be from the bank or HM Revenue and Customs requesting money to pay off a debt. Banks and HMRC state quite clearly that they will only ever attempt to contact you by letter and will never request payment via email.

It’s also possible that potential cyber criminals will enter your business steal sensitive data. This is done using a system called tail-gaiting. The criminal will closely follow an employee as they enter the building and simply walk right in. From this point, they may be able to access any information they please.

What Security Measures Should I Use To Prevent These Attacks?

So, what can you do to prevent against these attacks when the criminal is actually in the building? Employees should be given password-protected computers that are only accessible by them and the network administrator; this helps to prevent the cyber criminal from collecting any information once they are inside.

To prevent these unauthorised people entering the building in the first place, consider using access control. Access control means that unauthorised individuals are unable to enter into the car park. Take a look at our previous post for reasons to use access control. You can also hire manned security to monitor the access control system and prevent unauthorised personnel from entering the building.

You can also opt for CCTV, which will monitor people entering and exiting your place of business. As CCTV runs for 24 hours a day, your building will be monitored for intruders even out of hours and on public holidays.

Learn more about CCTV security

Ultimately, the best way to prevent your sensitive information from falling into the hands of criminals is to be proactive and boost your security measures. To prevent cybercrime, it is important to invest in the proper security measures for both your computer system and the building you are operating from.

So by now, you will have heard all about the cyber- attack on the NHS computer system. You may think that cyber crime doesn’t affect you but as a security business in Southampton, we can tell you that criminals use a wide array of tactics to target your business. The same tactics used by international terrorism we might add.

You might not be aware of the bigger picture with a potentially global threat to online security. We all know that computer viruses are an ongoing issue but the recent malicious use of ransomware by cyber-criminals is spreading and could affect all of us the BBC reports. There are ways to protect your customers and the sensitive data about them that your business retains.

Protect your business with Veritech

The truth is even the most low-tech business can be affected by such an incident. We all use the internet every day and the modern business world relies on it. There are even well-known links between cyber crime and terrorism that make the scale of all this absolutely huge. Many cyber criminals go to any lengths to obtain personal data for the sole purpose of committing online fraud.

5 Ways to prevent cyber criminals targeting your business

1 ) Email phishing

This is when fraudsters try to trick unsuspecting people into supplying sensitive information for their own financial benefit. Sometimes the attempts are so brazen with impressively professional-looking emails, that deliver your financial information straight into their hands. As a general rule, you should never provide passwords or bank details to external links you simply don’t trust. Even banks and HMRC don’t send emails to obtain financial payments so question the source of every email.

2) Access Control

If the online attempts fail, criminals may try less sophisticated attempts. For instance, tailgating is when unidentified strangers enter your business premises. It is a huge security concern. Most identity fraud begins with criminals obtaining personal and confidential data. This can be surprisingly obvious with strangers simply entering your building to steal information written down or from a computer. The easiest way to deal with this is having access control on your carpark or entrances.

3) Manned security

With access control, it will go without saying you need staff personnel to monitor the regular use (or misuse of such a system). It is also wise to have a person on reception checking the flow of employees clocking in, watching for any suspicious tailgating activity. Most of the time intruders can be stopped with rigid, proactive security surveillance.

Learn more about manned security

4) CCTV

In the unfortunate event that an intruder infiltrates your building and obtains sensitive information, then you might think it’s too late to prevent this. However, with decent CCTV coverage, you can monitor tailgating and hopefully identify the perpetrator for potential prosecution.

5) Out of hours

If your business holds sensitive information, it’s likely to be of interest to someone. This can mean intruders breaking into your building late in the evening or in the early hours of the morning. There are several options available when protecting your business premises in unsocial hours. You can try installing motion detectors or even a wireless alarm system.

Remember if you are unsure you can always get your business looked over for free.

How Security Companies Can Protect Your Data

If you work in a security company in Southampton, when you hear the term ‘data protection’ it can set off alarm bells. Some may think of ‘banks or stockbrokers, sweating over losing the names and addresses of customers. You may even read how online cyber thieves have stolen customer details from a mobile phone company. You might not even think this is a real security issue in the Southampton construction industry? You probably think you only have to worry about guarding warehouses and building sites, making sure supplies and tools are not stolen. You might choose to focus on a threat that is something simple, something that you can see in front of you?

Get free consultation about data protection

Well, data protection is something that affects every business these days. The rise of cybercrime and confidential details is big business for some and even the construction industry is now involved. The details of construction industry workers have been of interest to certain parties for a while now. So it is definitely in your interest to safeguard confidential data of all kinds. Did you know that 1 in 6 construction companies have been affected by cyber crime? Now the construction industry is waking up to the benefits of being I.T. savvy in general. New ways of protecting your business against cyber criminals will become more and more important.

The 5 Best Ways to Protect Confidential Data

1) Protect Passwords

Don’t write passwords down on your hand or anywhere they can be seen. That’s just pointless. If you do have to write them on a slip of paper then conceal it as best as possible. The actual password you choose should also be clever too. Don’t use something obvious that is known about you like a family member or pet. Try and add some random letters to it as well, something important to you but not something like a birthday. Think of it this way, if a complete stranger can guess your password by looking at your wallet or desk then it’s no good.

2) Paper storage

The world may be run by electronic data now but there are some circumstances where many businesses still have to keep files in paper format. In some industries, regulations require that all raw data be kept for a minimum of 3 years. So think about places like safes, fireproof locked cabinets or even secret drawers. As a long time serving security company in Southampton we know it is important to make sure that protocols are set in place. So keep keys hidden and have a backup in case one is lost in an emergency. A good keyholding service is vital in these days of identity theft.

Find out more about key holding services

3) Detachable media

A desktop or laptop computer is as much a liability as an unguarded safe if someone has the expertise to get access to confidential data. A lot of businesses store their data in detachable hard drives or USB sticks that can be carried from location to location. These can be encrypted but also need to be stored safely. The same principles apply to paper storage as these devices can probably be compromised but only if they are obtained.

4) Locking computer screens

Many high profile company offices always make sure employees lock their computer screens when not in use. Even if you need a swipe card to get into the building. This is because people called tailgaters often gain access to a building by following people in to obtain confidential data for the sole aim of identity fraud. You can also set your computer to lock out automatically if someone is away from their desk for a set amount of time i.e. a break or lunch where they have forgotten to lock out. It is important for security personnel to be aware of this fact as well.

5) Data Destruction

The job of protecting confidential data isn’t over when you are ready to dispose of it. Far from it in fact. The retaining and securing of data is one thing but destroying it is a different thing altogether. There are many ways of safely destroying confidential data from shredding it down to secure bin disposal services. The main thing is to act cautiously because any sensitive information should not be in a position where it can be obtained so easily.

The urgent truth of the matter is that every security company should be alert to the importance of keeping your online security tight.