A new website has been developed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) protect themselves from cyber crime.

Named Yorkshire-Safe (http://www.yorkshire-safe.org/), the regional pilot has been been developed to provide guidance and an online tool for businesses to check the security of their systems.

It also features learning modules to support SMEs in developing their own secure systems.

The pilot was announced on 7 February and the website will eventually be rolled out across England and Europe. Partners include the four Yorkshire police forces, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Sheffield Hallam University, the Department of Trade and Industry, Mid-Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yorkshire Forward, and People United Against Crime.

The site is multilingual and can be translated into Urdu, Bengali and Polish at the touch of a button. It will soon be available in German, Spanish, French and Italian ready for its European launch.

Dr Babak Akghar, reader in informatics at Sheffield Hallam University and technical leader of the project, said: "Small businesses are keen to take advantage of everything that online business has to offer, but often don't know how to protect their businesses from the risks that this opens up. However, with this new site they will be able to arm themselves with the latest facts on e-security and learn about the security implications of e-business"

South Yorkshire Police chief constable Meredydd Hughes, one of the forces involved with the project, said: "Tackling this issue (e-crime) requires a joined up approach, which is why I am thrilled that the four police forces in Yorkshire are working together, alongside regional and national organisations to respond to this growing problem. This is a model for the way that a collaborative approach in policing can make a real difference."

This article was originally published at Kablenet (http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/96CC1CCDFF1EF7368025727B005C7C59?OpenDocument).

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