Hacker to help plug cyber gaps

Businesses make mistakes every day which leave them vulnerable to a cyber attack – but what are they?

Ethical hacker and author Joe Hormenoo is joining forces with the Marches Growth Hub and Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for an online event which aims to save small businesses from expensive cyber attacks.

Joe, a certified ethical hacker with Round Cyber, will highlight some of the common vulnerabilities and their fixes at a free online webinar, hosted jointly with the Stoke and Staffordshire Growth Hub and DBT’s Cyber Hub tomorrow (March 12) from 10-11am.

After a long career in software development, Joe said he decided to move into cyber security after seeing friends and family get scammed.

He said: “It can come across as a very dodgy job! You see things you should probably never see, so for people to be comfortable with that they have to trust you. I had to train and get certification to make people more comfortable.

“Anything that can be connected to the internet or via Bluetooth can be hacked. Whether that’s a drone or whatever, I will find a way into it – ethically, obviously. I recently hacked – accidentally – into someone’s food dispenser, which was internet connected!”

One of the ways Joe highlights cyber vulnerabilities is to simulate a cyber attack on a website to show where weaknesses are, before suggesting steps the business can take to fix those weaknesses.

Shropshire Growth Hub’s Emma Chapman said the event hoped to give SMEs the tools to prevent a cyber attack.

“Nearly half of all small businesses have experienced a cyber attack or security breach in the last year. Working with the Stoke and Staffordshire Growth Hub and the Department for Business and Trade, we want to alert businesses to the dangers through this webinar. The cost to the average business is more than £1,000 for each breach – that’s a price which can be avoided if you know where the risks are.”

Joe’s presentation at the seminar is likely to prove an eye-opener for those who attend, as he demonstrates just how much information can be gathered about an individual or a business from openly-available sources, without even having to do anything illegal.

Joe has recently published a book, You’ve Been an Absolute Joy to Hack: A Hacker's Favourite Small Business Mistakes (and how to avoid them). He said he wanted to make small businesses aware that they are often very easy targets for hackers and scammers, and to encourage them to take steps to protect themselves.

He said: “People are sometimes scared of the topic, so I wanted to put it across in a way that was easy to understand. It’s just like locking a door in your house – once you know, you do it.”

To find out more about protecting your business from online threats, join in the seminar on March 12. Tickets are free and can be booked via https://www.marchesgrowthhub.co.uk/events/cyber-security-addressing-risk-in-a-digital-age-2/

Pictured: Emma Chapman of Shropshire Growth Hub