In time for Commonwealth Games, Intercity launched a new campaign to encourage commuters to warm up for potential cyber attacks
Midlands IT service provider Intercity launched a campaign encouraging locals to remain vigilant about cybersecurity concerns during the Commonwealth Games, warning that risks of a cyber-attack are heightened during large-scale sporting events.
The campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of cybersecurity issues amongst professionals – including the risks of ransomware and phishing scams – featured a series of Commonwealth Games-inspired messages.
Visible in the city across 35 key locations between the 11th of July and the 8th of August, the IT heavyweight teamed up with international software firm CheckPoint and IT leader Juniper Networks to warn against false starts when ensuring your organisation is secure.
A series of creative adverts highlighting the hurdles faced by small businesses in keeping their data safe – and key scams for employees to be aware of – were rolled out at key commuting times and played nearly 325,000 times. The sports-inspired messaging brought attention to risks associated with confusion and the benefits of ‘serving’ up hybrid cloud, public and private cloud solutions to ‘vault you to new heights’, and the importance of ‘keeping your eye on the ball’ at all times.
Cybersecurity risks include ransomware attacks which can leverage old email conversations to appear legitimate and encourage a response. Phishing can mimic messages and calls from various organisations – from delivery couriers to the NHS. However, with the city set to experience increased footfall, Intercity sought to remind people of the importance of being aware of ‘over the shoulder’ readers when accessing sensitive information in public and connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, which can provide hackers access to your files.
Phil Bindley, Managing Director of Cloud & Security at Intercity, said: “Cybercrime is becoming more sophisticated, making it easy for anyone to fall into the trap and unwittingly give up sensitive information. Simple errors, such as connecting to unsecured networks or downloading malware by clicking a link can cause huge problems for individuals, so we urged vigilance and caution during a busy period for Birmingham.”
Dominic Wetherall, Head of Marketing at Intercity, said: “With the Commonwealth Games meaning our bustling city was busier than ever, it created the perfect environment for cybersecurity scammers to thrive. We felt it was important to remind people to remain vigilant and stop culprits from getting a head start.
“There are certain games you don’t want to play, so we’re hopeful that our campaign equipped professionals to take the lead, giving them the best chance of winning against hackers.”
Intercity is a Birmingham-based technology services business with over 35 years of experience operating services such as cloud computing, security, and hosting. The creative campaign was developed in collaboration with local brand agency Orb.