Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce would like to thank everyone who attended its Cyber Forums last month, in partnership with Worcestershire Business Central (WBC).

Held with the support of local businesses SN Financial, borwell Ltd, Hallmark Hulme, IASME Consortium, Sutcliffe & Co Insurance and ISO Quality Services, the events were designed to provide SMEs with eight small steps we can take right now to avoid breaches in the future.

It was a great pleasure to welcome two guest speakers to the events, Justin Neale, Head of Business Operations at SN Finance, and Jill Davis, Marketing and Strategic Alliance Manager at ISO Quality Services.

Both guest speakers explored the impact of cyber security breaches on SMEs, highlighting how adapting passwords, protecting hardware, updating systems, addressing human errors and being supplier savvy can save your business’ reputation and finances from damage caused by infringements.

Delegates then worked together in small groups to discuss how they will be using the advice given as part of their cyber security planning, allowing them to network with other professionals and share best practice.

After the discussions, facilitators Steve Borwell, Duncan Sutcliffe, Julian Powell and Chris Pinder fed back to the rooms so attendees could takeaway top tips to implement on their return to the office.

The Chamber and WBC were also pleased to launch the brand new Cyber Guide that many local businesses may find beneficial when reviewing their cyber security planning. To request a copy of the guide, please contact policy@hwchamber.co.uk.