North Wales Police has its own specialist officer dedicated to warning and informing officers and businesses alike about e-crime.
Based in St Asaph, Andrea Barnard is the Regional Business e-Crime Liaison Officer for North Wales and is one of four officers who have been appointed throughout Wales
The move is part of e-crime Wales which is supported by the Welsh Assembly Government. It sees Andrea working to strengthen partnerships and communication links between businesses in the area and be on hand to advise firms of the threat posed by e-crime and the best ways to combat it.
E-crime continues to pose a real threat. At the beginning of this year a report published by the Federation of Small Businesses revealed that 54% of businesses have been a victim of fraud or online crime. It also stated that the figure was likely to grow unless there is a pro-active response by businesses.
The specialist e-crime team appointed is armed with the knowledge to help businesses report and investigate all aspects of e-crime. The officers are committed to equipping local businesses with the knowledge and tools to enable them to become aware, vigilant, informed and safe from the destructive effects of e-crime in all its forms which can include fraud, blackmail, forgery and embezzlement.
By working alongside the recently appointed e-Crime Wales Businesses Liaison Officers, businesses across Wales and the North Wales Police area can now help to ensure that the environment they work in is a safe place for all staff.
Andrea’s remit includes:
- Acting as a single point of contact for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in North Wales, providing them with preventative advice about IT security.
- Raise awareness of e-crime within the North Wales business community and within the force
- Available to give advice throughout the investigation process
- Collate intelligence on all aspects of e-Crime and provide the Welsh Assembly Government with the data.
“There is a real need for a single point of contact for businesses to turn to with their security concerns or to report minor or major incidents,” said Andrea, who joins the e-crime team having gained a wealth of experience with North Wales Police. “I along with my three other colleagues can and will act as that vital link between the victim and any investigating officer to ensure efficient communication at all times.”
“It is not just the e-Crime Business Officer involved in the e-crime fight. Part of my responsibility also includes providing training and raising awareness of the issue to colleagues within the police service. It is the intention of the both e-crime Wales and the police team to engage with education. Raising awareness to businesses of the need for diligence in the utilisation of IT in the workplace is crucial. The need to deliver business lessons to students in higher education has also been identified as, after all, this is where the future directors of industry can be captured and be given preventative advice before embarking on their careers.”
Andrea urged businesses across the area to attend a national summit to learn how to stay safe online, as figures showing almost a quarter of Welsh businesses have been a victim of e-Crime in the last year are released.
The Wales Benchmarking Survey carried out on behalf of Welsh Assembly Government’s e-Crime Wales Unit found that 23% of businesses questioned had experienced one or more incidents of computer related crime in the last year.
E-Crime is increasingly viewed as serious and can be a danger to any business with a computer. Businesses big and small can register for free to attend the e-Crime Wales Summit 09 at www.ecrimewales.com/summit2009
This year’s is the fifth annual Summit and will be held at Venue Cymru, Llandudno on Wednesday 21 October 2009.
Building on previous events, the Summit will offer interactive presentations from keynote speakers from leading companies including Microsoft, PayPal, Cryptocard and 7Safe on current threats and solutions with guidance for delegates on how to protect businesses online.
Andrea said: “Businesses across North Wales face potentially devastating and ever-changing threats from e-Criminals. “Almost two thirds of respondents in the benchmarking survey who had attended previous Summits said they had changed their approach to data security following the event.
“Business people’s time is always valuable, particularly in a recession and this data shows time would be well-spent at the e-Crime Wales Summit 09.”
More information on e-Crime Wales can be obtained by logging on to www.ecrimewales.com
