Any salon in the modern age needs to be protected against digital threats like hacking, and Cyber Wardens is here to ensure you’re cyber safe.
Cyber Wardens is a free and simple training course designed to provide small businesses the knowledge and tools to protect their businesses against cyber threats, and to protect their clients’ and suppliers’ data. It takes just two minutes to enrol and the training program is self-paced, offering quick and simple actions for your business.
Cyber Wardens in as initiative of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) and supported by the Australian Government, Telstra, CommBank and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
“As a small business owner, safeguarding my business and personal assets from cyber threats is paramount,” shared hair industry leader Sandy Chong of Suki Hairdressing. “The Cyber Wardens program offers a vital shield against potential scams and hacks by providing essential education to empower my team with the knowledge to recognise and mitigate cyber risks effectively. This program is not just beneficial — it’s essential for fortifying our defences and ensuring the security and longevity of our operations.”
The Cyber Wardens course teaches simple actions to help protect against cyber threats like inbox break-ins (where hackers break into your email and steal vital information), fake invoices and payment scams (which come via deceptive email tricks that can see you pay fraudulent invoices), and online banking frauds (where hackers can breach your online banking login and drain your accounts).
In Australia, 80 per cent of small businesses are at risk of a serious cyber attack and while 20 per cent have been exposed to an invoice or payment scam, 70 per cent have received a suspicious SMS, email or phone call.
The Cyber Wardens training is vital to help identify and protect against these risks. With a cyber crime reported every six minutes in Australia and 43 per cent of cyber crimes targeting small businesses, salon owners and their staff cannot afford to ignore the risks. One cyber attack costs a small business an average of $46,000 and can trigger an 80 per cent increase in cyber insurance premiums.
Research indicates how important training is against these threats, with 95 per cent of cyber attacks due to human error, not technology failures. This highlights how critical it is to instil a culture of cyber security amongst Australian small businesses.
The Cyber Wardens course is the first step to help small businesses defend against cyber attacks, and provides simple actions like setting up multi-factor authentication, backing up data through cloud servers, regularly updating software, and replacing simple passwords with passphrases.
“We’ve been aware of cyber safety and worked with a great IT company to support our salons, however the Cyber Wardens course highlighted the fundamentals of cyber safety and areas where we should have more structure in cyber security,” shared salon owner Dwight Hodge of the salons Agent Hue and Druthers Collective.
“After doing the course, I’m building in a rhythm where, at certain points in time, we can check our software is up-to-date and multi-factor authentication is turned on. That little bit of time to check every month is a small investment in time and energy compared to being a victim of a cyber crime.”
Learn from this free, quick and simple course now to help keep your salon protected from cyber threats. Take 2 minutes to enrol and begin your journey to cyber safety.
For more information visit www.cyberwardens.com.au/hairdressing