What kind of business would have no need for cyber security?
A business that didn’t have any cyber security risks, would have to be a business that was completely offline.
It would have no website, and no social media for marketing. Presumably they would find business by word of mouth only, or by leaflet-drop around very specific areas: probably a hyper-local business.
The business owner wouldn’t use a smartphone. No email usage, and no taking payments by card.
If it has an office, then there would be no CCTV or any internet-enabled devices.
Adding employees makes it more difficult—cash payments and paper records would work, but what about tax and national insurance? So, it’s probably a one-person company.
During the pandemic, there was a huge shift towards cashless payments, even for milkmen and window cleaners. However, there are still some businesses that are cash only, and which do all their accounting on paper.
So, if a business truly has no online presence, uses no computers, no CCTV and no internet-enabled devices, perhaps they don’t need cyber security.
But do they still need information security?
According to the ICO website, paper records containing personal information, such as customer data or employee records, are only included under the Data Protection Act if the business plans to put them on a computer or ‘file them in an organised way’.
‘An organised way’ would include a physical filing cabinet or a Rolodex (remember those?). Organisation of such records would include alphabetisation; categorisation (for instance, into invoices, receipts, customer details, and contracts); or chronological (visitor logs, or filing documents in date order).
A business that didn’t do any filing and kept all paperwork in random piles probably wouldn’t stay in business very long these days.
There are exceptions to the Data Protection Act, of course: law enforcement, journalists and universities each have exemptions in certain areas. But we can conclude that it would be a very rare type of business that didn’t need to secure personal information at all.
If your business uses the internet, computers or mobile devices, and you think that your business could use some help in getting started with cyber security—or information security—see our contact page, or call the Click and Protect team on 0113 733 6230.
