Cyber-crime is on the rise! We have recently witnessed fraudulent attempts on Australian Workshops first-hand and we want you to be aware and make your customers aware. You cannot relax on this topic.
The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) recently announced Australian businesses lost over $630 million in 2020 from online data breaches. Worryingly this is an increase of 250% on 2019’s figures.
As many Australian businesses change the way they operate in the wake of the pandemic – NOW is the time to assess your current security set up.
Here are some of the risks to Auto repair businesses and what you should look out for:
The risks for Australian Workshops
It doesn’t matter what type of system you use there many risks to your data. The biggest risk for Australian automotive businesses is losing financial information, customer details or important business data.
Some of the risks include:
- Viruses
- Hardware corruption
- Email attacks
- Malware attacks
- Data theft
- Blocked service
- Misinformation/ defamation
- Cyber-extortion
- Falsification of documents
A common fraudulent activity currently doing the rounds is the hijacking of invoices with redirected account details.
These e-mails can be difficult to catch because they appear to be harmless and identify like your everyday invoice. They will appear to come from a member of the business and often ask customers to initiate a payment by a certain time.
In the case of the example email below, the fraudulent bank details looked significantly cleaner, to the point that they were indistinguishable from an original invoice.
The invoice is identical, except in this case the margins had been removed from the PDF.
Online scammers are continuing to look for new ways to exploit your system and extract data for financial gain. If your data is breached the impacts can be significant. You could face customer loss, financial loss and even face legal liabilities.
It takes years to build a business’s reputation, but it only takes seconds to lose it!
How can Workshops improve data security?
The best way to minimise the risks of cyber-attacks is by implementing a cloud security solution like Microsoft Azure – the world’s most trusted cloud solution. Azure invests heavily in the latest technologies and undergoes frequent updates – in a bid to keep your data safe.
Workshop Mate is hosted on Microsoft Azure - significantly reducing your risk of data breaches.
Another way your workshop can protect data from cyber threats is by checking your current outgoing email name and password. Frequently update your passwords and inform your customers what email they should receive an invoice from.
Any suspicious or out of the ordinary email should be deleted and reported to the Police.
Is your current management software safe enough?
Your management system is everything for your workshop. If your system was to be attacked, you won’t be able to operate until the issue is resolved.
It’s so important that you check your current security solution and analyse if it is the best option available.
Workshop Mate has made a significant investment in Microsoft Azure. We aim to give workshops the peace of mind knowing their data is in the safest place. Very few providers in Australia have invested in data security like Workshop Mate has.
About Workshop Mate
Workshop Mate by Jeal is a simple and adaptable Workshop Management system that automates the daily tasks of running a mechanical workshop. Using the latest technologies, Workshop Mate removes common frustrations and time-wasting administration tasks.
Workshop Mate includes all your everyday needs like Job Management, Bookings, Parts Inventory Customer Reminders, Xero/MYOB Integration, All-in-one Quotes, Pricing and Service History – everything you need to operate a successful mechanical workshop.
Never tried Workshop Mate? Now is the best time to give it a go. Click the button below to start your 14-day free trial.