Protect Your Charity From Cyber Crime: Trustees’ Week 2024

Do you know how to protect your charity from cyber crime?

Cyber crime is becoming more frequent in all aspects of life, due to the increased use of technology.

As a Trustee, it is part of your role to ensure that the Charity’s funds are protected, and the resources are managed responsibly.

There are some simple ways in which you, as Trustee’s, can safeguard your charity:

• Use secure passwords on all electronic devices and sensitive documents;
• Ensure anti-virus programmes are kept up to date;
• Make all trustees and employees aware of the Charity’s online safety procedures, such as not clicking on unknown links; and
• Checking information through a third party source to ensure it is legitimate.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has also produced a free, e-learning guide on online safety, which can be shared to all trustees and employees in your Charity and can be found on the following link: NCSC’s cyber security training for staff now available – NCSC.GOV.UK

It is important that all trustee’s are aware of how to report a cyber attack, and that all employees know what to do if the situation arises. It is best practice to have a formal policy within your charity, which is distributed to all.

All cyber crimes should be reported to the Board of Trustee’s, Charities Commission and any other relevant authorities. Action Fraud is a national service specifically for reporting cyber fraud. It also has a live helpline which is open 24/7, which can be found here: Action Fraud

Get In Touch

If you have any questions relating to your Charity, contact your local Whitings LLP office today.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.