The University of Kent’s School of Economics, School of Computing and Kent Business School, in partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses, invites you to a Business Soundbites event titled Cyber Security: How safe is your business? on Thursday 7 June from 17:00 onwards.

Cyber security is essential for organisations of all sizes. Government figures suggests that around half of all organisations suffer some form of cyber breach or attack in any one year. The consequences of this can be considerable, including significant financial costs and loss of customers.

Consistent evidence suggests, however, that many organisations are not treating cyber security as seriously as they should. This is a particular issue for SMEs, who are an attractive target for criminals, but may feel they lack the expertise and resource to implement an effective cyber-strategy. There are, though, simple, cheap and effective strategies that organisations can implement to reduce the potential damage from attack. There is also a range of support and advice from which organisations can benefit.

This event will inform and advise SMEs about cyber security. The event will cover:

• Information on the most prevalent threats and trends in cyber security
• How threats will likely evolve in the future.
• Why cyber security matters to SMEs.
• Actions that SMEs can take to mitigate threats and become more informed.
• Actions that SMEs should take in the event of a cyber-attack.

The School of Economics and School of Computing are working together on an ESRC-funded project on cyber security and SMEs, and are keen to talk to SMEs about their experience in this field.

SMEs who are available to take part in a short survey on cyber security will receive a FREE cyber security healthcheck from the Kent IT Consultancy, the School of Computing’s student staffed IT Consultancy To register for the survey and consultancy, please contact the KITC via email: cyber@kitc-solutions.co.uk.

Event Programme

15:00 – 17:00 Pre-event cyber security consultancy sessions to SMEs

For more info, contact KITC: cyber@kitc-solutions.co.uk.

17:00 – 17:15 Registration with refreshments

17:15 – 17:20 Welcome

17:20 – 17:45 A Disruptive World

Aimee Payne, Kent Police Cyber Crime Unit Cyber Crime Protect Officer

17:45 – 18:10 Ransomware and Financially Motivated Crime

Edward Cartwright, Professor of Economics at De Montfort University, EMPHASIS (UoK inter-disciplinary project on ransomware)

18:10 – 18:35 Cyber Security and SMEs: How to Protect your Business

Speaker TBC

18:35 – 19:00 Panel discussion, Q&A

19:00 – 20:00 Drinks, canapes and music in the Atrium