Cyber Awareness Week: Expert Shares His Top Ten Tips to Avoid Disaster

A leading cyber security awareness expert has shared his top ten tips to help businesses prevent falling victim to an attack.

The advice comes from Roy Shelton, CEO of Connectus Business Solutions, as part of Cyber Awareness Week, which encourages companies to review and strengthen the digital tools and defences they currently rely on.

Last year, 50% of UK businesses and charities reported a cybersecurity breach, with two-thirds of those attacks targeting mid-sized organisations.

To help address this growing threat, Connectus Group is offering a free Cyber Security Masterclass for CEOs and CFOs on 22 October, from 12:30–13:30pm (UK time).

The hour-long virtual session will provide practical, actionable steps leaders can take immediately to boost their organisation’s cyber resilience.

Mr Shelton said: “Cyber-criminals thrive on a lack of vigilance within organisations, but there are tried and tested methods that can be adopted to minimise the risk of your business succumbing to a potentially devastating attack.

There have been some very high-profile examples recently,  including Harrods, Jaguar Land Rover, and M&S, that highlight what can happen when information security fails.

The good news is there are simple, affordable measures that go a long way in protecting your organisation from cyber criminals.”

He added: “Cyber security doesn’t need to be overwhelming. By taking consistent, proactive steps, you can mitigate risk, protect your reputation, and build customer trust.

The key first step is for the CEO and CFO to make cyber a strategic priority, with a purposeful and commercial approach.”

Mr Shelton’s Ten Practical Tips for Businesses

All of these are low-cost, high-value actions that can be implemented immediately:

• Strong passwords and MFA: Enforce complex passwords and enable multi-factor authentication wherever possible.
• Regular software updates: Keep systems patched and up to date to close vulnerabilities.
• Employee awareness training: People are the first line of defence; invest in training to spot phishing and social engineering attacks.
• Backup and recovery planning: Test backups regularly to ensure business continuity in the event of an attack.
• Endpoint protection: Protect every device with anti-virus and endpoint detection tools.
• Access controls: Limit user access to sensitive data based on roles and permissions.
• Email security: Deploy spam filters and threat detection to reduce phishing risks.
• Incident response planning: Have a clear, tested plan for how your business would respond to a breach.
• Secure Wi-Fi and networks: Use encrypted Wi-Fi and separate guest access from business-critical systems.
• Leverage external expertise: Partner with trusted cyber specialists to audit, monitor, and strengthen your defences.

Connectus will host its Cyber Security Masterclass for CEOs and CFOs on 22 October (12:30–13:30pm UK time), offering clear, practical steps to help business leaders enhance resilience and reduce cyber risk. To register email info@connectus.org.uk