British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) has warned businesses to be on their guard to cyber-crime after a number of incidents on larger retailers and the Royal Mail.BIRA, which works with over 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, has called for smaller business owners to be wary of links they click or suspicious/unusual communications they may get through.The call follows a number of brands, including JD Sports, Millets and Blacks, along with the postal service, being hit by attacks in recent weeks, and customer data being shared or compromised.BIRA CEO Andrew Goodacre said: “We know that everyone is a lot more savvy when it comes to emails and internet safety, but this only means that the cyber criminals are themselves being even more careful in making their attacks look legitimate.“If the larger retailers are being hit then that just shows the levels that they will go to to obtain data from them, and just being you are smaller, doesn’t mean you aren’t a target. So we really want to urge everyone to be extra vigilant, don’t open links or emails that you weren’t expecting and just be on guard to this happening.”BIRAs website hosts a number of free useful resource links to help businesses stay ahead of the game, including links to every regional cyber-resilience centre, all of which provide free basic membership.
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