October 28, 2022
Article
With 17-21 October being designated “Charity Fraud Awareness Week”, a warning was produced by the Charity Commission that in a recent survey, one in eight (12%) of charities reported having been the subject of a cyber attack in the last 12 months, yet only 24% having a formal policy in place to manage the risk of cyber attacks and only 55% reporting that cyber security was a fairly or very high priority int their organisation.
With most charities now holding electronic data on people that engage with the charity, the loss often is not only a financial one. The most common types of attacks are phishing and impersonation, both involving others impersonating a senior person within the organisation, and it is often personal data that is more valuable to the fraudster than initial financial gain. This can then have a substantial impact on the credibility of the charity and the trust that donors place on you, and all charities could do without a reputational stain when it comes to raising money from donors currently.
The good news is that there are simple steps that you can take to make the organisation less susceptible to cyber fraud. These include changing passwords regularly, using two-factor authentication, making sure that antivirus and other protection software is up to date, and taking regular back ups of information.
Charity Fraud Awareness Week is run by the Charity Commission and the Fraud Advisory Panel and aims to bring the sector together to share best practise. There are some excellent resources available on the Charity Fraud Awareness Week website: Home Page - Prevent Charity Fraud