Emplas has gained the government-backed Cyber Essentials Accreditation for taking steps towards securing its systems against cyber-attack as part of a £250k IT upgrade.

The fabricator was awarded the accreditation as part of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) scheme following an eight-month programme of investment including a major upgrade of its network, servers, power supplies, virus software and, most importantly, cultural change.

Head of IT Stuart Chadwick said: “Our business and the service we offer to our customers is built around our IT infrastructure, connecting our portal EVA and the tools our customers access daily to our production systems, our factory floor and right through to distribution.

“Protecting that against a backdrop of a growing number of cyber-attacks, including many on our own industry, including us, is incredibly important in safeguarding our business and our customers’ supply chain.”

According to the NCSC 2021 annual review the number of ransomware attacks was three times higher in the first quarter of the year than in the whole of 2019. Figures from Centre show that Cyber Essentials accredited certified companies cut their risk of cyber-attack by 98.5%.

Emplas itself was among window and door businesses to be targeted in a ransomware attack last March. Although contained within a 12-hour period, the company lost workstations and access to data, providing even more impetus to a programme which started in late 2020.

“Everything has been rebuilt from the ground-up. It’s new. Every every server, every computer is running current anti-virus software, the latest versions of software and all the latest patches” Stuart continued.

“The cultural change has been equally as important. We have far better password discipline, two factor authentication, automatic locking of computers. Colleagues now constantly demonstrate alertness to threats such as email attachments etc. 

“It’s about striking a balance between not inconveniencing people or putting things in the way so that IT becomes an obstacle versus the need for high levels of security. 

“The Cyber Essentials Scheme is very useful in working through things in a very practical way while delivering a step change in security.” 

www.emplas.co.uk

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