On Thursday 22nd February the DCCI held their inaugural Member2member Live event at the Village Hotel in Bournemouth. With over 200 visitors, the 2 hour session passed very quickly. As one of the 30 exhibitors, ITSB showcased their services and ran a survey on attitudes to cyber security by local businesses.
Interestingly, the results of the survey threw up some thought-provoking results. Let us take you through some of the insights.
When asked about changing passwords most respondents said that they only changed passwords when they had forgotten their details or were required to do so because their device no longer had the settings in place. Only 2% of respondents used Secure Password Management tools such as LastPass or Keychain.

Delegates were asked about the security of their devices on the network with public Wi-Fi having little firewall protection, but 90% of businesses had a firewall to protect their main network.

With computer viruses, loss of data, and ransomware, it cannot have escaped the attention of the wider public. Businesses are clearly paying attention to their data security with our survey showing that over 90% were satisfied with their company’s approach to antivirus and malware protection.

When it comes to the biggest threats in IT the top 8 subjects were identified as:
● Data protection and loss of data
● Fraud
● The ability to accommodate GDPR effectively
● Virus infection
● Hacking
● Lack of knowledge
● Staff
● DDoS attacks
So what can local businesses do to improve and secure their IT systems and devices?
It’s clear from the results that businesses in the SME sector already have a high level of awareness and are taking steps to develop and protect their IT infrastructure.
Some immediate steps that can be taken include:
● Ensuring that all employees are aware that they should manage their passwords on a regular basis – check out our cyber security tips here.
● Business owners should check for vulnerabilities – there is a self-assessment check available from the Government by way of the Cyber Essentials scheme.
● Ensuring adequate firewall protection is in place for any device accessing any part of your network.
● Ensuring that software is kept up to date.
Ready for the next step or don’t have the time? ITSB are accredited to provide Cyber Essentials accreditation. We will undertake a full audit for you, provide recommendations and securely maintain your digital business world. We are based in the heart of Bournemouth and if problems do occur then we can be onsite within 30 minutes. Book an audit by calling the team on 03333 44 22 04.