Page 64 • The HERALD • 28th August 2025 v SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SPECIALISTS v Sanders Design SERVICES LTD BUILDING PLANS AND DETAILED DRAWING SERVICE Complete professional service for extensions, conversions, new houses and commercial projects • Computer Aided Design Drawings • Free Initial Visit and Quotation 95 Cedar Road, Hythe, Southampton SO45 3PX Tel: 023 8020 7195 Email: info@sandersdesignservices.co.uk Web: www.sandersdesignservices.co.uk ASK A PROFESSIONAL Vigilance Urged Over Businesses across the South are being urged to remain ultra vigilant in the face of an onslaught of cyberattacks. e main takeaway from a cyber security seminar held in Hampshire for owners, business leaders and decision-makers is that cyber threats are here to stay – ignore them at your peril. ree regional businesses – HWB Chartered Accountants, Lloyds Bank and Gallagher Insurance & Risk Management – combined to stage the breakfast event at the Axis Centre in Southampton to impart their cyber security advice. Keynote speaker was Sam Cheshire, Head of Cyber at Gallagher, whose talk covered cyber threat intelligence, cloud security, arti cial intelligence in cybersecurity, data, protection and privacy. He said: “There were 7.78 million cyberattacks on UK businesses in 2024 – the vast majority being social engineering attacks – but just 15% of businesses have a formal incident management plan that is cyber centric. The average annual cost of cybercrime to businesses is £15,300, yet only 30% of all organisations use monitoring tools to spot a malicious attacker on their network. However, the real cost of an attack can be to a company’s hard-earned reputation – especially if there is business interruption or large amounts of sensitive customer data are collected – which can take years to rebuild, if at all.” Sam, whose firm offers a comprehensive range of cyber insurance policies, said the current ransomware epidemic began a er the Covid-19 pandemic and by 2023 cyber incidents were ranked the number one global business risk for the rst time. He also covered common cyber risk misconceptions, such as the businesses who thought they didn’t need insurance as they invested in IT security or outsourced their IT. ere were also those who considered themselves too small to be targeted or felt cyber was covered under their standard insurance. Michaela Johns, Director at HWB Chartered Accountants, based at Chandler’s Ford, said: “Business owners and directors must remain vigilant at all times to prevent them from becoming a sad statistic. It is especially important to maintain year-round protection as most attacks happen on major holiday dates such as Easter Sunday and Christmas Day when businesses may have taken their eye off the ball. The most common cyberattack at the moment is invoice redirection. It is vital that businesses have an incident management plan that is cyber centric, and I was staggered to learn that just 15% of UK businesses have this in place. The most paid out insurance claims are to manufacturing businesses who need to be able to get their machines unlocked in order to continue production, but charities are also a Continued on page 65
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