WATCH: How can the food and drink industry weather the cyber security storm?

Food and drink businesses are under attack.

Cyber security breaches reported by UK organisations hit an alltime high in 2023, with hackers targeting retailers in nearly one in five (18%) of incidents.¹ Last year, food & drink operators fell victim to the third highest number of attacks in the global manufacturing sector.² 

The repercussions of these attacks reach far and wide. Ransom demands and lost sales during downtime can run into millions. And, depending on how victims respond to events as they unfold, attacks can cause irreparable damage to brand reputation and give competitors golden opportunities to steal custom. 

It’s not just the giants in the hackers’ sights. The boom in selling direct to consumers Online and growing complexity of supply chains mean that operators of all shapes and sizes are holding data that needs protecting. But with costs mounting, some SMEs struggle to justify expenditure on cyber security. 

The growing number of data breaches across the industry suggests that it’s not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ hackers will attack.

So, what should food & drink SMEs be doing to build their cyber defences? And if the worst does happen, how should operators respond to ensure that a breach doesn’t become a crisis?

Watch our webinar in partnership with NFU Mutual on demand to find out, as we bring leading industry experts together to discuss the cyber security challenges facing grocers today and into tomorrow. Watch here.

 Meet the panel:

Andrew Martin, founder & CEO, DynaRisk

Andrew founded DynaRisk in 2016 and has a background in senior cyber roles in major banks and corporations. Andrew was recognised as one of the top 200 cyber security experts globally by the SANS Institute. While protecting banks from cyber attacks, he provided cyber threat intelligence to government agencies, including the US Secret Service, FBI, Interpol, CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) and other law enforcement agencies around the world. He has had articles or features in the Financial Times, Forbes, Daily Mail, The Banker, Insurance Times, Insurance Post and more.

James Trevis, Dip CII, cyber & Crime portfolio manager, NFU Mutual

James started his insurance career in 2008 at a local independent insurance broker gaining significant knowledge and understanding of commercial insurance and the needs of UK SME’s. In 2016 James joined Aon, one of the worlds largest risk and insurance firms and held both new business and account management roles before specialising in cyber insurance and cyber risk management. James joined NFU Mutual in 2022 to provide cyber subject matter expertise to the business and grow the cyber proposition for the benefit of it’s customers.

Rachel Ford, partner, RPC

Rachel is a partner in RPC’s Cyber and Tech Insurance team. She represents clients from all sectors and specialises in cyber and breach response. RPC’s breach response offering covers all complexities, and involves incidents spanning across a range of jurisdictions, in the UK, across Europe and beyond. Rachel is experienced in a range of different type of breach response incidents, and enjoys the collaborative nature of her work. She also offers guidance to her clients on incident readiness, preparing for an incident before it even happens to make sure clients are as equipped as they can be when it comes to cyber risk.

Neil Hare Brown, CEO, Storm Guidance

Neil Hare-Brown has worked for over 40 years in the field of Information Security and formed the first digital forensics company in the UK in 1996, with the former head of the first Computer Crime Unit, Met. Police. Neil wrote ‘Information Security Incident Management: A Methodology’ in 2007, defining the best practices for cyber incident management.

After providing Digital Forensics to the Met Police and other constabularies for many years, Neil went on to form STORM Guidance in 2014. Pioneering in the field of digital investigations and cyber risk management for the cyber insurance sector, STORM’s services can be accessed across the UK, U.S., and Africa, helping customers better manage cyber risk and respond effectively to cyber incidents.

With the mantra: Assess, Plan, and Respond, STORM set out to explain the value of cyber insurance, optimise cyber risk management maturity, and minimise losses when they occur.

Rob Brown, Moderator

Rob Brown is an award-winning freelance writer and editor specialising in business news, features and data analysis. He spent eight years working as a senior editor at The Grocer and now writes and edits in-depth articles for a variety of business and consumer magazines and news outlets.