Tag: survey

BCC Survey on Cyber Crime

The British Chambers of Commerce recently completed its survey on cyber-crime at British businesses large and small.

The results show that one in five businesses have fallen victim to cyber-attacks in the past year and that big businesses are far more likely than their smaller counterparts to be victims of attacks (42% of companies with 100 staff or more, compared to 18% of companies with fewer than 100 employees).

The results indicate that businesses are most reliant on IT providers (63%) to resolve issues after an attack, compared to banks and financial institutions (12%) or police and law enforcement (2%).

Many businesses (21%) believe the threat of cyber-crime is preventing their company from growing.

The survey also shows:

  • Only a quarter (24%) of businesses have cyber security accreditations in place. Small businesses are far less likely to have such accreditations.
  • Of the businesses that do have accreditations, half (49%) believe it gives their business a competitive advantage over rival companies, and a third (33%) consider it important in creating a more secure environment when trading with other businesses

From May 2018, all businesses who use personal data will have to ensure they are compliant with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.

Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“Cyber-attacks risk companies’ finances, confidence and reputation, with victims reporting not only monetary losses but costs from disruption to their business and productivity. While firms of all sizes – from major corporations to one-man operations – fall prey to attacks, our evidence shows that large companies are more likely to experience them.

“Firms need to be proactive about protecting themselves from cyber-attacks. Accreditations can help businesses assess their own IT infrastructure, defend against cyber-security breaches and mitigate the damage caused by an attack. It can also increase confidence among the businesses and clients who they engage with online.

“Businesses should also be mindful of the extension to data protection regulation coming into force next year, which will increase their responsibilities and requirements to protect personal data. Firms that don’t adopt the appropriate protections leave themselves open to tough penalties.

The British Chambers of Commerce website is at www.britishchambers.org.uk

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Lifestyle Survey Phone Calls

It seems to be stupid survey call season again.

I don’t know why, but these calls seem to happen for a period of weeks then stop for up to several months then start again. And this is the start – three calls yesterday and two today so far.

These callers are trained to be friendly starting with “How are you today Sir?”

Then a starter such as “I just have a few questions to ask you today please”

or “Please can you help me by answering just a  few simple questions about lifestyle?”

They ask questions to profile you – gender, age range, location etc. then the key questions are usually about things such as insurance, pets, children, safety, who supplies your electricity and gas, which supermarkets you shop at etc.

The questions themselves are mostly harmless, but these people sell the answers so if you answer “No you don’t have household insurance” then that makes you a good lead to sell to every home contents insurance company they can find.

The result is then lots more calls from insurance companies that you didn’t ask for.

Most of these survey companies operate from outside of the UK and claim they can ignore the fact that many of us are registered on the Telephone Preference Service and should not be called.  They are wrong in this belief and should not call TPS registered numbers.

Best not to answer such surveys unless you are happy to put up with the subsequent unwanted sales phone calls.

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