10/09/09
Businesses in Wales urged to secure their future at e-Crime Wales Summit 09
Businesses in Wales are being urged to attend a national Summit to learn how to stay safe online, as figures showing almost a quarter of Welsh businesses have been a victim of e-Crime in the last year are released.
The Wales Benchmarking Survey carried out on behalf of Welsh Assembly Government's e-Crime Wales Unit found that 23% of businesses questioned had experienced one or more incidents of computer related crime in the last year.
e-Crime is increasingly viewed as ‘serious' with examples of attacks including financial loss, interruption of business, theft of intellectual property, data theft, identity theft or other deceptions caused by unauthorised and unwelcome access to computer systems.
These attacks pose a threat to any business with a computer, from sole traders to multi-nationals, and organisations across Wales can register free for the e-Crime Wales Summit 09 at www.ecrimewales.com/summit2009
This year's Summit is the fifth annual and will be held at Venue Cymru, Llandudno on Wednesday 21 October 2009.
Building on previous events, the Summit will offer interactive presentations from keynote speakers from leading companies including PayPal, Cryptocard and 7Safe on current threats and solutions with guidance for delegates on how to protect businesses online.
Since last year's Summit, Wales has continued to lead the way on e-Crime prevention across Europe. The team has ensured that Welsh businesses have direct access to dedicated e-Crime Officers in each Welsh police force. Businesses should contact their local officer for all e-Crime support and advice, details of whom can be found on the e-Crime Wales website.
The e-Crime Wales unit has also created a First Responder's Guide to e-Crime which is now a regular part of every police officer's training and toolkit. Along with the Preventing e-Crime for Dummies Guide, which is available to download at no cost. It covers all aspects of advice, support and guidance on how to protect business critical data from online threats.
Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister of the Welsh Assembly and Minister for the Economy and Transport said: "The effects of e-Crime can be devastating in terms of loss of reputation, downtime and business continuity which directly impacts the bottom line. This impact causes unnecessary headaches to business owners who need to concentrate their efforts more than ever on running their businesses.
"Wales has taken a lead on the fight against e-Crime and in ensuring businesses are able to secure their future. We now have designated police officers in the four police forces and have produced a series of tools - website, literature, guides and policies - all of which are available free of charge to help businesses and individuals secure their systems.
"Business is increasingly conducted online. We aim to keep Wales as a great place - and a safe place - to do business."
John Cherry the Police Liaison Officer for South Wales Police said: "Businesses across Wales face potentially devastating and ever-changing threats from e-Criminals.
"Almost two thirds of respondents in the benchmarking survey who had attended previous Summits said they had changed their approach to data security following the event.
"Business people's time is always valuable, particularly in a recession and this data shows time would be well-spent at the e-Crime Wales Summit 09."
The e-Crime Summit reflects the partnership approach of the Welsh Assembly Government, as the information security industry, law enforcement agencies and Welsh businesses come together to learn, share best practice, gain new insights and understanding, and forge new relationships in the ongoing, international fight against e-Crime.
e-Crime Wales takes advice from a steering group of experts including Welsh Assembly Government, four Welsh Police Forces, the Home Office Team in Wales, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Morgan Cole Solicitors, KPMG, Get Safe Online, HSBC, MessageLabs, Sequence, Eclipse Creative, University of Wales, Newport and CRYPTOCard.
To make sure you receive the essential knowledge from the Information Security experts to secure your business, register at free for the e-Crime Wales Summit 09 at www.ecrimewales.com/summit2009
