Police CyberAlarm monitoring tool for businesses and organisations goes live with major update

Now with a major upgrade, the improved Police CyberAlarm Monitoring Tool has gone live in Hampshire.

The enhanced version of Police CyberAlarm works alongside an organisation’s current cyber security products, such as the firewall, network intrusion detection system and intrusion protection system, anti-spam and network anti-virus to help members better understand the cyber threats they face.

Data received by the Police CyberAlarm Server is then used to create regular reports on potential malicious activity seen by individual members as well as reports containing threat trends seen across the member network.

Detective Sergeant Leith Morrison said: ‘We know that cybercrime impacts businesses and organisations in our region on a daily basis.

‘Our dedicated cyber crime unit is working hard to prevent attacks as well as catching those responsible but having robust cyber security defences in the first place is the only way to mitigate the risks of a successful attack on your business.

‘The more members we have, the more data we get which will provide law enforcement with a much richer intelligence picture about the current and emerging threats businesses are facing.

‘Our officers and staff can then use the data collected to provide relevant and targeted advice at a local, regional and national level helping member organisations better protect themselves.’

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Since launch, Police CyberAlarm has identified more than a billion potential suspicious events resulting in reports and advice being given to members.

In one case Police CyberAlarm detected a UDP amplification attack, a very potent attack method that turns an organisation’s own equipment against it, causing the member organisation infrastructure to attack itself.

Working with the Police CyberAlarm team, the member was able to mitigate the effects of the attack, stopping it from having any effect on its network.

In another case a company, which was not a Police CyberAlarm member, fell victim to a ransomware attack which forced it to shut down business critical systems. After contacting the police, Police CyberAlarm was installed immediately by the company, which was able to identify the method of the attack, which was communicated to the company to allow it to close the vulnerabilities that existed.

Visit cyberalarm.police.uk.