Naq Cyber

Naq Cyber is providing small and medium business owners with the tools and confidence to guard against the very real threat of data breach and cyber-attack boosting cyber resilience as the business grows and ensuring it remains GDPR compliant.  

The Product

Naq Cyber was created out of the need for a simple, yet comprehensive security solution for SMEs and now exists as an app combining compliance, cyber security, and training elements. 

Why is it necessary? 

Throughout the development process, founders Chris and Nadia discovered that many SMEs think they are immune to cyber threat, and that GDPR law doesn’t apply to them. However, harm to an SME once a cyber-attack or breach has struck is far-reaching, including operational disturbance, loss of business, weakened reputation and financial damage. According to Hiscox, SMEs are hacked by malicious outsiders every 19 seconds, costing a business anything between £8,000 to £300,000 by the time that the fees of rectifying the damage are paid to consultants, PR experts and legal professionals. In addition, the Information Commissioner’s Office has also started to crack down on data breaches and non-compliance with GDPR, with fines ranging from £15,000 -£25,000. 

Increasingly, this such risk is extending to agricultural businesses due to subsequent disruption it can induce on other industries, such as transport and retail. And for hackers, agriculture is an easy target due to the use of technology in many different aspects of the business, from electronic gates to sophisticated farm management software. As more and more farmers also take to the internet to market their business, the threat of cyberattack becomes increasingly prevalent. 

Cyber security concerns data, but it is also about the entire web system.  One specific agricultural issue that Naq Cyber have been investigating is the large risk for some farms to be targeted by animal rights or vegan activists. Naq can support farms to take preventative action by scanning hidden parts of the web to identify if the farm name or location has been mentioned, and if it there are public events planned. Applying the best practice in cyber security, a bespoke Cyber Security Action Plan is created, which details, step by step, what the company needs to do to protect themselves and why it is important. 

Yet this comes as part of a wider package from Naq Cyber, which acts as a virtual security team for your business. Combining technical and organisational measures, Naq not only gives you the software to build business resilience, but the training to utilise it successfully. They are raising awareness of cyber risks and security within the agriculture industry, but perhaps more importantly, providing solutions and comprehensive training on how to overcome it. And in the unfortunate incident of a breach occurring, an expert will be on hand to resolve your issue. 

“Naq Cyber is centred around protecting the livelihoods of business owners, without adding another item to their to-do list,” says Chris