The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 39: Oct/Nov 2018 | Page 33

CYBERCRIME TOP OF THE AGENDA AT
LATEST BUSINESSWISE OPEN EVENT
Business owners from across Swindon and beyond attended a
BusinessWise open evening in September to discuss cybercrime
and security.
Organised by the town’s only independent non-competing
referral group, the event is the second where any
business owner could attend to network and learn from
a guest speaker. At this event the speaker was Benjamin
Johns, who works for the Regional Cyber Crimes Unit.
The evening was held in partnership with Swindon’s
Metro Bank who also provided refreshments and drinks
for attendees.
Jerry Thornton, BusinessWise chairman, said: “It was
an informative, informal evening where guests could find
out more about each other, our group and learn about an
issue which is increasingly relevant to businesses both
large and small. We were thrilled to work with the Metro
Bank team who made us feel very welcome.”
Guest speaker Ben shared information with the
guests about phishing, malware, ransomware and the
increasingly sophisticated means being used by cyber
criminals to defraud individuals and companies.
“We all have to take this subject very seriously,” Ben
said. He shared the recent story of a small business
owner, who employed 30 people, who cycled into work on
a day the owner now calls ‘Black Tuesday’.
In an audio message to the guests the business man
said: “It was the darkest day of my career as a business
owner.” His team found a message on their computers
which said they’d been hacked and asking for money.
“Every file of every server had been encrypted,” the
business owner said.
Luckily this business owner had an offsite back-up
yet it still took four days to get the business up and
running. During the evening, Ben challenged the guests
to consider how long their businesses would be ‘offline’ if
such a crime affected their systems.
Ben told guests if anyone falls foul of a cyber-attack or
even receives something which looks suspicious the first
step is to call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 who will plot
a course of action to support the business and seek to
bring criminals to justice.
BusinessWise members meet at the Jury’s Inn,
Swindon on a Friday morning and visitors can attend
for free to see if the group suits their needs. In the last
year more than £650,000 of business has changed hands
between members.
For more information call chairman Jerry Thornton on
07811 942050 or follow the BusinessWise Facebook page.
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MEMBER FOCUS
Each edition we focus on a BusinessWise member
and tell you a little more about who they are and what
they do:
Name:
Lauren Reynolds
Business:
Honest Marketing
Tagline:
Be Found. Be Favoured.
Years in business: 1st year!
A defining trait:
An open love for supporting
people and seeing them
succeed.
Lauren grew up working in small businesses and it was
after a 3-year stint at Nationwide Building Society she
realised how much she valued her work making a positive
impact for the people involved.
After an intensive two years managing marketing plans
and activity for clients of a well-known business coaching
franchise, Lauren started Honest Marketing last year and
offers business owners a managed service that focusses
on data-driven marketing to create lasting results for
the business and the team behind it. Lauren focusses on
proven activity for businesses with an ethos of ‘we succeed
when our clients succeed’.
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018
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