Page 34 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine Jul-Aug 2021
P. 34

                Cyber security
               34
PAINT&PANEL JULY / AUGUST 2021
   THE SPREAD OF CYBER CRIME HAS BEEN AS INSIDIOUS AND VIRULENT AS THE SPREAD OF COVID19 SINCE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN. AJAY UNNI THE FOUNDER OF STICKMANCYBER TELLS US WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR.
CYBER SECURITY:
             WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
                 C YBER ATTACKS AREN’T JUST A vague concept, they’re a very real threat facing businesses around Australia. Bodyshops and collision repair businesses have masses of sensitive data on their premises, such as full names, contact details, car registration details, insurance details, date of birth, and credit card details. This is all data that can be used by hackers to exploit
and steal from customers.
Despite this, a large number of paint
and panel businesses remain uncertain and fearful when it comes to setting up
their own cybersecurity processes. This is especially true in more established busi- nesses, where an attitude of ‘it hasn’t hap- pened yet, so it never will’ prevails.
Cybersecurity is often pushed to the bottom of the to-do list, always compet- ing with the never-ending demands fa- miliar to anyone in the paint and panel industry. In the case of accident repair shops, these demands are often time- sensitive and are especially difficult to predict and plan for.
The result is that companies are ex- posed to unknown threats that are only
revealed once the damage has been done. Such threats might not just be loss of data but also a ransomware at- tack that can bring your business to a standstill. Ransomware attacks essen- tially encrypt all your business IT sys- tems and data, and then expect a ran- som to be paid before your data is unencrypted. We have seen a lot of un- protected businesses small and large who have been affected, and some were forced to cease business operations as they were unable to recover from the attack. By not putting the right precau-
        




















































































   32   33   34   35   36