PCC encourages organisations to use free tool to improve their cyber security
08.02.22 - Merseyside
Merseyside’s Police Commissioner is urging businesses, educational organisations and charities to improve their cyber security by signing up to the police’s CyberAlarm tool.
Emily Spurrell is trying to increase awareness of the free tool to mark Safer Internet Day (8th February) which aims to promote safer use of online technology.
CyberAlarm is available to every business and organisation across Merseyside. It’s designed to help you understand and monitor any cyber threats facing your organisation by providing regular reports of any suspected malicious activity, enabling businesses to take steps to improve their online resilience.
Once a business or organisation becomes a police CyberAlarm member, they will be able to install the ‘CyberAlarm Virtual Server’ which will then collect and process traffic logs identifying suspicious activity from the firewall.
CyberAlarm does not see the content of any activity. Instead, it monitors metadata in the logs relating to the traffic to identify suspicious activity and is designed to protect personal data, trade secrets and intellectual property.
Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “CyberAlarm is a fantastic free tool available to business, local government, educational establishments and charities and even individuals to help them to improve their security online.
"This tool does not give the police access to your websites or data. It cannot see content. Instead, it passively monitors for suspicious activity and alerts you, so you can take action if your organisation is on danger online.
“With the average cost of a cyber-attack now costing a small business an average of £11,000, this is a valuable tool to help protect you and your employees.
“There’s no catch to signing up. It’s free and it’s police led.
“As we mark Safer Internet Day, there’s no better time to sign up and keep your organisation safe online.”
The CyberAlarm tool, which is funded by the Home Office, has also been welcomed by Merseyside Police’s Cyber Dependent Crime Unit, Detective Inspector John Black. He said: “Police CyberAlarm can benefit any organisation with a computer network including SMEs, public and private sector, charities, education and local government.
“We want to get as many businesses as possible signed up to the growing network of Police CyberAlarm members as possible. The more members we have, the more data we get which will provide law enforcement with a much richer intelligence picture about the current and emerging threats businesses are facing.
“As a Police CyberAlarm member, organisations will benefit from regular reports detailing suspicious and potentially malicious attack activity on their firewall/internet gateway. It will show them how they are being attacked, and where from so they can improve their cyber resilience. It will also help law enforcement identify current threats and take enforcement action against cyber criminals”.
Businesses can sign up on the cyberalarm.police.uk website. They will then receive a unique code and when this is added to their website, it will provide access to full instructions and how to install Police CyberAlarm.
For more information, please visit: https://cyberalarm.police.uk/
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You can also email the Cyber Protect Officers at Merseyside Police on: [email protected]