These days, we see more and more businesses who are now reliant upon electronic systems and/or the internet in one form or another.

Although the digitalisation of day-to-day operations brings huge benefits to businesses by helping processes to be more efficient and improving time management for example, we are all too aware of the significant risks it may bring.

The average annual cost for a business that loses data or assets due to a cyber breach is £4,180, according to figures released in the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019. This is a high concern to companies, given that one in three businesses were subject to a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months alone.

The most common forms of attack involve fraudulent emails from cyber criminals impersonating an organisation online, phishing attacks, viruses, spyware and malware. Where businesses have lost data or assets through cyber security breaches, the financial costs from such incidents have increased consistently year on year since 2017.

I am pleased to share that Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce will be hosting two Cyber Forums which will take businesses through eight small steps that they can take right now to avoid breaches in the future.

The informative events have been created in partnership with Worcestershire Business Central, borwell Ltd, Gowling WLG, Hallmark Hulme, IASME Consortium, NatWest, Sutcliffe & Co Insurance and Titania.

Taking place on July 30 in Worcestershire and August 2 in Herefordshire, the morning sessions will provide invaluable hints and tips from industry experts.

The event is free for Members and Non-members of the Chamber of Commerce. To book your place on the Worcestershire event, go to bit.ly/CyberForumWorcs.