Cyber Crime in 2020 – What you need to know

Running a business?

Is your data safe and secure?

Things are changing fast. Cybercrime is driven by a multi-billion-dollar industry often backed by state actors and they are quite literally coming for you – the Kiwi SME business! You may have thought you were too small, but not anymore. Professional IT companies like GTB are finding that criminals are increasingly targeting smaller businesses. Why? Because they can, because you are easier targets, and because they can earn money from it. Or achieve whatever disruptive aims they have. At GTB we are hearing and seeing more clients report increasingly inventive attempts to fool them. This is not a drill.

People are more aware than ever of these threats. But when people are busy – and perhaps tired or stressed – they become vulnerable to the increasingly deceptive and tricky manipulations that the hackers are using. Attacks are far more targeted to you and your people personally. As well as publicly available information, criminals may be able to access data on you or your people from the Dark Web. Year on year of global data breaches have created vast amounts of data online, for people who know where to look. The criminals can provide victims with information that “they just couldn’t know” thereby gaining sufficient trust for the second or so that it takes for someone to click somewhere they shouldn’t.

Risk is increasing...

Two, three or more years ago, the IT and business media commentaries were that “cyber security is the number one topic in boardrooms”. These were talking almost exclusively about larger businesses and corporates. For the vast majority of businesses, which are smaller, people knew there was a threat but did not feel so directly targeted. This is now changing, and Kiwi SMEs need to wake up and ensure they are aware and appropriately protected.

The risks are substantial, and not just to lost earnings due disruption and the cost of remediation. If you have a professional practice, or carry confidential client/patient information, and your data is hacked, the reputational damage could be immense. Not just that, you have also potentially failed in your legal duty of care to those clients/patients.

This is especially so given the Privacy Bill currently making its way through the New Zealand parliament and which is likely to become law in 2020. Interestingly, Kiwi businesses that have data stored in the ‘cloud’ with overseas companies, need to ensure that their storage provider meets the requirements of NZ privacy laws.

All in all, the cyber threat environment is changing for Kiwi SMEs. As an owner, director or manager, you need to be on top of this. It’s your duty.

What can you do??

Come along to one of these short 1 hour bite size, plain English sessions designed for business owners and managers.

You can expect high ROI for your time invested in attending, with the event delivering an executive summary that will equip you to take action. We’re not going to teach you about detailed cybercrime techniques or detailed technical aspects; we’re going to cover off on what is happening, why you need to be concerned and what you can and should be doing about it.

These are small sessions, led by GTB MD Mark Ternent, with strictly limited numbers, so please register quickly to avoid disappointment.

All attendees can also expect:

• A complimentary follow-up session for your business by GTB IT Solutions

• 12% discount on all GTB labour booked for security in the month following the event

Two timeslot options:

[email protected] – Tue 25 Feb, 2020 – 10am

[email protected] – Wed 26 Feb, 2020 – 5:15pm

These sessions are run by GTB in conjunction with the Kapiti Coast Chamber of Commerce.

For bookings go to please visit here.

If you’d like to talk about your situation, contact GTB