Federation of Small Businesses Publications
Help is at hand from the Yorkshire based Business Crime Reduction Centre’s (BCRC) team of expert advisers who are able to provide in-depth advice and guidance to businesses within the Yorkshire area. The BCRC specialises in providing e-crime advice and will provide a free and impartial full security assessment of your ICT systems with practical and cost effective solutions offered. The advisers are also able to offer free e-security training to businesses and have produced a series of informative guides in the hope of reducing the negative impact of e-crime against SMEs in this region.
According to the recent ‘Inhibiting Enterprise – Fraud and Online Crime Against Small Businesses’ report produced by the FSB, 56% of businesses questioned have been victims of online crime or fraud. Over a quarter of those businesses, a significant 26%, have been deterred from buying and selling online because of the risk of crime. Unfortunately for UK businesses, that means a massive amount of companies are missing out on the potentially huge revenue streams of online sales and the equally huge discounts than can be found by shopping online.
The report also highlighted that 60% of businesses believe that there should be more education and awareness training on how to protect themselves from e-crime, but that whilst 86% recognise prevention is the best protection and have installed firewalls to protect their networks, only 6% are accessing guidance and training through regional fraud forums and e-security initiatives.
As times are difficult, businesses can’t afford to be missing out on the e-commerce market to generate revenue. Through better education and offering practical advice, the BCRC can help increase consumer confidence in the internet as a marketplace.
To obtain advice or enquire about a free ICT security assessment call 0114 275 1283 or email info@bcrc-uk.org
Inhibiting Enterprise - Fraud and Online Crime Against Small Businesses - Download