The event featured representatives from Dyfed-Powys Police, North Wales Police, NFU Mutual and NFU Cymru, covering topics including fraud, cybercrime, farm machinery thefts and livestock worrying.
Dyfed-Powys Police Cyber Fraud Investigator Allan Rush and North Wales Police Cyber Protect Officer Dewi Owen provided attendees with useful advice in relation to preventing cybercrime. The seminar was warned that reporting of cyberattacks on large global companies could lead to farmers thinking 'it won't happen to me', but such is the scale, sophistication and frequency of online and telephone fraud that it was a case of 'if not when' residents and small businesses may be exposed to some form of scam.
The cybercrime specialists provided the audience with six pieces of key advice to help secure themselves against online fraud:
- Use strong passwords – Use unique, complex passwords for every account. Long, strong passwords of 15 characters or more help protect your information.
- Multi-factor authentication – Add verification beyond passwords to provide accounts with an additional layer of protection. Prioritise this for email, banking, social media and work systems.
- Phishing awareness – Recognise and reports suspicious emails and exercise caution when opening links. Verify and check anything that seems abnormal
- Software updates – Regularly update software and apps to protect against new online threats. Enable automatic updates where possible and don’t delay installation when prompted to update.
- Device security – Lock devices and use secure connections. Use PINs, passwords or biometric security on all devices. Avoid using public wi-fi for sensitive tasks. Only download from official sources.
- Incident reporting – Trust your instincts and promptly call out suspicious activities. Sharing knowledge on potential threats can help protect others.
The overriding message was that farmers must treat cybersecurity in the same way they would protecting their physical farm assets - 'securing your farm and securing your future doesn't stop at the farm gate'.
NFU Mutual Vehicle Crime Specialist Kirsty Hyslop told the event that the insurer had invested almost £550,000 last year in rural crime fighting initiatives. She said NFU Mutual was continually collaborating with police forces and vehicle manufacturers and had been instrumental in the development of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act for England and Wales.
Ms Hyslop's take-home message to farmers was 'know what you own' - take photographs of machinery, trailers and quadbikes, along with a picture of their serial numbers. Taking these actions can assist law enforcement in recovering your property in the event it is stolen.
Finally, NFU Cymru Rural Crime Lead Garry Williams provided a farmer perspective on the impacts of rural crime. Garry covered a wide range of issues experienced by members across Wales, including quad and machinery thefts, frustrations with dog attacks on livestock, hare-coursing and livestock thefts.
He also discussed the union's lobbying raising the profile of rural crime with Wales' police forces and his own work with officers from Dyfed-Powys Police.
Speaking after the event, seminar lead and NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chair Gary Yeomans said: "It is crucial that farmers aware of the evolving tactics employed by criminals, whether that be physical thefts from the farm or the sophisticated methods used by online fraudsters. Receiving advice from each of these specialists speaking at our seminar has been extremely valuable and the union will be proactively sharing detailed guidance with the wider membership in the coming weeks."
