WATCH: Cyber crime: Secure your farm, secure your future

Cyber crime is becoming an increasingly significant threat to farming businesses across Wales, with criminals using ever more sophisticated tactics to target rural communities.

At this year’s Royal Welsh Show, the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) welcomed Detective Inspector Paul Hall from the Wales Cyber Resilience Centre for an insightful seminar highlighting the growing risks posed by cyber crime and the practical steps farmers and rural businesses can take to protect themselves.

Watch the full discussion between FUW President Ian Rickman and Detective Inspector Paul Hall above, or read Paul Hall’s article below for expert advice on safeguarding your farming business against cyber threats.

Cyber crime: How to keep your business safe
by Detective Inspector Paul Hall, Wales Cyber Resilience Centre and South Wales Police 

Cybercrime is impacting organisations across Wales. No matter the size, the business sector or location, different organisations across the country are being targeted by cyber criminals. The criminals are exposing weaknesses in security to expose vulnerabilities as a way of exploiting organisations. Cybercrime is preventable and the first step is being aware that you will be targeted. 

Advancing technology is impacting and changing how businesses can operate, the farming and agriculture sector is no different. Farmers are utilising technology such as GPS mapping, soil sensors, drones and automated tractors. Utilising such technology can enhance the capabilities of the farmer, however it can present a risk especially if cyber security is not considered. 

If criminals targeted a GPS guided tractor for example they could cause the tractor to work inefficiently which could result in damaged crops or misaligned planting. It is important to be aware of what technology you are using which can include home computers, phones, automated machinery and security cameras and ensuring that they are protected as these items could be what the criminal targets. 

One of the main methods of attack is coming via phishing or scam emails which try to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information such as passwords or transferring funds. The criminal will pretend to be from another organisation and try to encourage the recipient to do something. Some of these emails are obvious scam emails, however the criminal is becoming more subtle and sophisticated in how they succeed. 

The supply chain threat is one of the most common ways that criminals succeed. They will use a compromised email address of one of your suppliers and use that trust you have with your supplier to get you to do something. This could include stating that you have an unpaid invoice, requesting you to download something or simply telling you that their bank details have been changed and requesting you to update your payee details for them. 

The advice for this is simple: contact your supplier using a trusted number and not the one on the email and double check with them. The Welsh Government and the Police led Wales Cyber Resilience Centre are currently working together to raise the awareness of the supply chain threat in order to better prepare organisations and prevent them from becoming a victim. 

The vast majority of cybercrime is preventable and more often it is human error that has allowed the criminal to succeed so it is important that the human becomes the first and strongest line of defence.

Key things to focus on:

Keep your devices up to date - like any piece of machinery it needs to be regularly maintained and in order to do this you must ensure the operating system and installed software on your devices is updated. Major operating systems have a function that allows updates to be installed automatically. 

Using Strong Passwords - National Cyber Security recommends using three random words as a way to remember passwords. Utilising capitals, lower case, numbers and special characters can make your password stronger. Don’t use weak passwords such as family or pets names or your place of birth. Always ensure you change default passwords such as your WI-Fi network . 

Turn on Multi Factor Authentication - If your password is known because it has been stolen or guessed, MFA is another layer of security to prevent unauthorised access into your account. 

Back up your data - in the future you may need access important data such as emails, invoices, contracts. It is vital that you back these items up in a separate location which will assist if you were to lose this data from your primary account. 

Being aware of Phishing emails - the likelihood is that we will all receive a phishing email, however, having knowledge of what they are can prevent you from becoming a victim. One factor that a lot of victims have in common is that at the time of reading the email they were busy juggling other things and may have missed obvious signs that it was a phishing email. Anything that involves a payment or changing of bank details - phone the person or organisation to check.