Police and Crime Commissioner Supports Government's Cyberstreet Campaign

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria, Richard Rhodes, fully supports today’s launch of the Government’s ‘Cyberstreet’ campaign.

The main thrust of the campaign is to make people more ‘e-savvy’, through the launch of the website Cyberstreetwise.com.  The website provides some essential tips to improve people’s online behaviour and help keep important information safe for themselves, their families, and their businesses.

Police and Crime  Commissioner, Richard Rhodes said: “I welcome the launch of the new website at a time when the internet is playing a central role in peoples day-to-day lives.  It is essential that we all take the necessary precautions to help keep ourselves safe from this type of crime.

“As a result of listening to feedback from the public, I have included tackling cybercrime within my revised Police and Crime Plan”. 

“I will be working with the Chief Constable to address this growing area effecting  both individuals and the business community, and which currently costs the UK approximately £52m a year through fraudulent online activity.”

The campaign urges people to take some simple steps to change their online behaviours, so that they and their family remain safe.  These are:

1.    Using strong, memorable passwords

2.    Installing anti-virus software on new devices

3.    Checking privacy settings on social media

4.    Shopping safely online – always ensuring to check online retail sites are secure

5.    Downloading software and the application of patches when prompted

Cumbria Constabulary’s Cyber Crime lead Detective Superintendent Slattery fully supports the Government’s Cyber Street campaign aimed at individuals and small to medium sized businesses.

“Whilst the threats posed by Cyber Crime continue to develop, multi-national companies and large public bodies have become very effective at preventing large scale Cyber-attacks. Increasingly , we see individuals and small businesses are becoming vulnerable with their greater use of the internet for everyday business and they don’t have the access to the same preventative resources.

“The impact is really felt in our communities when a vulnerable victim is groomed via internet chat-rooms, a family is defrauded or a small business put out of action for a period of time. The Constabulary is working to develop a comprehensive Cyber Crime Strategy which will ensure that the staff with appropriate skills and equipment are able to tackle local issues affecting the people of Cumbria, whilst maintaining strong links to Regional and National agencies including the National Crime Agency and Action Fraud.

“The Constabulary is already seeing considerable success in dealing with Cyber Crime and the community can be confident that we can and will meet the challenges of this ever-changing area of business.”