PCC Mark Shelford is encouraging local small businesses and charities to join the South West Cyber Resilience Centre Cyber Webinar to learn how to be more cyber resilient.

The webinar, taking place at 8.30am – 9.30am on July 19, is being organised by the South West Cyber Resilience Centre (SWCRC), a police and private sector collaboration run on behalf of regional forces.

With support from the South West Business Council and Business West, the webinar will provide a unique insight into how cyber criminals use data and how they operate to target businesses. The webinar will include two keynote presentations from industry experts on how public data can be used against a business and information on the current research into cyber threat.

Attendees will also be encouraged to sign-up to the SWCRC's free offer of guidance and support including information on basic security and how to implement it plus a monthly update on the latest threats to avoid. The centre can also provide inexpensive services including website and systems testing using a network of ethical hackers.

PCC Mark Shelford said: "I encourage as many small local businesses and charities to take part in this webinar to learn invaluable information about cyber criminals and how to protect yourselves. Scammers are ruthless and do not only target individuals but the business community as well.

"Prevention is key and this can only be achieved by educating one another to become more cyber resilient. We need to ensure we make the business community a hostile environment for fraudsters who want to target businesses and destroy livelihoods."

Local businesses and charities can register for the webinar via: https://my.demio.com/ref/G9bAtkL1u1iIgcM8