The new
technology firm has created a platform for sports/leisure clubs and
organisations to access commercial-grade cyber security at affordable prices.
Clubs of
all sizes are prize targets for cyber crime – they hold large amounts of
valuable user data, and tend to be run by part-time volunteers without a
professional understanding of how to properly protect the club. These clubs are
just as attractive to hackers as businesses, but have not had the knowledge or
resources to invest in anything more than basic personal anti-virus software.
This
makes them dangerously vulnerable. On average, the cost of a successful cyber
attack to a sports club in the UK is £10,000. For many amateur community clubs
this would be a crippling financial hit.
Not to mention the time and effort the club would need to put into
rebuilding its systems and regaining the trust of its members and sponsors.
Until
now, the kind of solutions that could mitigate that risk were prohibitively
expensive and difficult to understand and install. DeCyber has built a platform
that makes it easy for club officials to protect their organisation in less
than 15 minutes, with prices starting at just £100/year.
“Having
worked in cyber risk for some time, and being a sports fan myself, I became
alarmed at just how vulnerable clubs were to cyber attack” said Jonathon Lane,
founder and managing director of DeCyber. “So I approached some of the very
best solution providers in the world, and created bespoke security package
solutions that were specifically designed to help sports clubs. Most solutions
are focused on corporate enterprise and small to medium businesses – we’re the
only solution built with sports clubs in mind.”
These
packages include solutions such as cyber insurance, anti-virus, firewall
protection, deep web monitoring and cyber awareness training. Clubs can visit
DeCyber’s website, answer a few simple questions about the club in the Cyber
Health Check, and receive a free cyber risk assessment. From there they can
purchase a package tailored to the answers they gave, including solutions they
often wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
The
cyber security products available to clubs and organisations through DeCyber
are:
- Cyber insurance underwritten
by certain underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, which includes commercial-grade
Avast anti-virus and firewall software.
- WardWiz, another market-leading
anti-virus software package
- OwlDetect, a state of the art
data monitoring tool which allows clubs to see if their data appears in places it shouldn’t for example, on
the dark web
- KYND, a cyber risk management
tool that can help clubs easily identify their cyber risks in real time
- CybSafe, a rich, interactive
cyber awareness training programme
DeCyber
is able to offer these products at extremely attractive prices for a sport or
leisure club.
DeCyber
has the backing of Risk Transfer Group, which has a 38-year record in the
insurance business. Its cyber insurance is provided underwritten by Lloyd’s of
London, and its solution packages have been put together with CPP Group UK, a
leading international product innovation business. With these kinds of
partnerships, DeCyber is in position to transform the sports cyber security
market.
In fact
the start-up has already started making waves. It is the 1st team men’s
hockey shirt sponsor at Surbiton Hockey Club, the largest hockey club in the
UK, and has installed one of its packages as part of the deal. It is also a
sponsor of the Sport and Recreation Alliance, and will be sponsoring an award
at the CRSA awards in March 2019.
