Cyber attack
The range of malicious activity and cyber dangers continues to expand, presenting a significant risk to individuals, businesses and communities.
Cyber security is everyone’s responsibility. All individuals and organisations must include cyber security in their online practices.
How you could be affected
A cyber attack might cause:
- problems in daily life
- loss of money
- theft of personal information
- harm to your reputation
What you should do
Be prepared
- Be careful when sharing personal information - check if an organisation is trustworthy before giving details like your name or bank information
- Protect your devices - install an up to date anti-virus software
- Spot the signs of scams - many fraudulent activities begin with phishing. Visit the National Cyber Security Centre for advice on spotting and reporting scam emails, texts, websites and calls
- Sign up for alerts - visit Action Fraud Alert to get updates on scams in your area
During the incident
- Report a cybercrime - if you think you've been a victim of an online scam or fraud, report it to:
- Action Fraud or call 0300 123 2040
- Leicestershire Police or call 101
- Crimestoppers or call 0800 555 111
After the incident
- Back up your data regularly - make your data recoverable in the event that your IT equipment is compromised
- Watch out for fake emails and texts - scams usually put pressure to act urgently and want to trick you into providing personal information, downloading infected attachments or clicking malicious links
- Keep maintaining updates - your devices will usually inform you that your system needs to be updated, but you can also manually check whether a new version is available