Established in 2011, Develop Capability work in partnership with customers, to understand their challenges and provide cost-effective solutions that enable them to improve business performance. They provide various services including training, Consultancy, Vulnerability Scanning, Penetration Testing and Data Protection. They are accredited to provide Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus Certification.
Develop Capability work with a range of clients, from small start-up businesses to global enterprises across multiple sectors with responsibility for elements of the Critical National Infrastructure. All of their clients rely on information and information technology and they work to protect these clients against risks such as cyber-attacks.
Like many businesses Develop Capability has adapted to the last 12 months, a lot of their work has come from referrals and that has meant expanding their national and global customer base. In 2020 they were doing a lot of travelling and on-site assessments. The travel restrictions have allowed them to evaluate and develop ways of doing assessments remotely. The assessments are just as effective and are an excellent fit with their collaborative approach.
Develop Capability was motivated to join the Cyber Resilience Centres Cyber Essentials Partners group, 'We believe in the need to provide affordable high quality, security guidance and services to businesses. Joining the CRC provides us with the platform and opportunity to connect with those businesses.'
What would you say a small business should prioritise when it comes to thinking about Cyber Security?
2020 was an opportunity for cybercriminals and fraudsters who preyed on people’s fears and vulnerabilities to push their scams. They spoofed government health sites to trick people into clicking on malware links. They targeted food delivery apps with credential-stuffing attacks. They even posed as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send phishing emails.
COVID-19 is expected to follow us into 2021, and this type of cybercrime will too. Small businesses need to take steps to protect themselves and their staff. We can all be more vigilant against the virus and the criminals trying to take advantage of us.
It’s true that, if you look after your customers they will look after you. Cybersecurity is actually a basic responsibility of customers and therefore should be a priority for any business.
What's the biggest myth you've heard about Cyber Security?
Small and medium-sized businesses aren’t targeted by hackers whereas, in reality, small businesses made up over half of last year’s breach victims.
The proliferation of high-profile hacks in the news often tricks small and medium-sized businesses into thinking that they won’t be targeted for a cyber-attack. In reality, the opposite is actually true. In fact, according to the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 58 per cent of data breach victims were small businesses.
This happens for several reasons. Many businesses aren’t targeted specifically, but instead are victims of what is known as “spray-and-pray” attacks when hackers set up automated systems to randomly try to infiltrate businesses. As these attacks are random, any business can be damaged, regardless of size.
Small businesses tend to be “soft” targets, as they are often not prepared against cyber-attacks and don’t have skilled security teams. This makes them more likely to fall victim to spray-and-pray attacks. Targeted attacks are then used to focus on these small businesses once it is discovered that they are vulnerable.
For more information about Develop Capability and their services, visit their website.
