What to do if you are suffering a live cyber attack

Read Action Fraud’s guide for businesses in the event of a cyber attack, including how to stop it & secure evidence to aid an investigation.

Becoming the victim of a cyber attack is one issue for a business that may not be on the minds of owners day in, day out, but it is something that needs attention. If you become aware of a cyber attack while it is happening, it may present a chance to catch the criminals.

Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

They define a live cyber attack as “one that is ongoing, that is still affecting your system and your ability to work... and there is an opportunity for law enforcement to stop the attack and/or secure evidence that will assist an investigation”.

Action Fraud has compiled a guide to help businesses, organisations and charities in the event of them discovering a live cyber attack.

Examples could include:

  • Cyber criminals accessing your network, stealing personal information about your customers and demanding payment for its safe return. This is also known as hacking extortion.
  • Your website being flooded with traffic, meaning customers are not able to access it as a result. This is called a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack.

Read the guide here >

Other useful links on digital security

Report cyber crime and phishing attempts

Visit the Action Fraud website to report cyber crime or fraud, or call them on 0300 123 2040.

Are you worried about cyber crime affecting your business?

Learn more about cyber crime and how to protect your business in the first of a new series of articles from the Thames Valley Police Cyber Protect Team.

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