Our Chief Information Officer, Karen Campbell, speaks with Modern Insurance Magazine
18 June 2024
Our Chief Information Officer, Karen Campbell, recently spoke to Modern Insurance Magazine about raising awareness about the risks associated with fraud and cyber security.
How are you educating / raising awareness within your teams around the risks associated with fraud and cyber security, such as ransomware and phishing emails?
You can never be complacent or rest on your heels where security is concerned. We have a great bunch of people working in our IT security team that take a proactive approach to testing and raising awareness.
Whilst traditional methods such as phishing campaigns and whaling simulations are great at keeping people on their toes and helping them understand what bad looks like, there is more that you can do.
We never settle on one thing, we try to come up with different ways to keep people engaged, which is always difficult in the age of information overload. That’s the tricky thing, how much is enough and more importantly, how much is too much.
We balance the quantity of information that we send out and consider what will grab people’s attention, and what helps drive home the message. There have been some really high impact news headlines over the last 6 months that have really hit home. The social engineering and deep fake attacks that cost the associated businesses millions. These two and many others that end up in the news really help to highlight things that translate to any business.
Our internal communication platform and intranet dedicated cyber / security channels are used to keep the narrative at the forefront of people’s minds. We also run a full training programme for everyone in the business alongside a national awareness campaign.
Tackling fraud requires various approaches that combines proactive measures to prevent fraud, robust security measures to detect and respond to fraudulent activities, and ongoing education and training for employees and customers. Every business is different, therefore, it's essential to tailor your approach to cybersecurity to fit your specific needs and circumstances.
Utilising intelligence gathered from the wider business community is essential to understanding new and emerging techniques used to defraud business and is a pivotal part of our security strategy.
Finally, having a robust cybersecurity program and promoting a culture of security awareness, you can significantly strengthen your organisation's defences against threats, ultimately minimizing the impact of potential attacks such as fraud, ransomware, and phishing.
Karen Campbell, Chief Information Officer
Carpenters Group
Credit: Modern Insurance Magazine - I Spy Cyber