Cyber security in Newtownards
Cyber security in Newtownards for town-centre traders, practices and producers, and for the farms, holiday lets and family firms down the Ards Peninsula. Business Technologies NI looks after the security of Newtownards businesses from our office in Lisburn: accounts, email, devices and backups, with Cyber Essentials preparation and monitoring that never switches off.
Cyber security for Newtownards and Ards businesses
The firms we meet in Newtownards are mostly small: a shop with a card machine and a back-office PC, an accountancy practice with a handful of staff, a farm business that does its banking and paperwork online. None of them thinks of itself as a target, and that is part of the problem. Criminals rely on automated phishing and password guessing that reach every business, large or small.
Rural firms on the peninsula face the same threats as offices in the town, often with less help close by, and more of their work now happens on phones and in the cloud.
- Protected sign-in. Multi-factor authentication for every Microsoft 365 user and alerts on unusual sign-ins.
- Safer email. Filtering, domain authentication and a quick route to check a suspicious message with us.
- Updated devices. Laptops, desktops, phones and tills patched and protected, with encryption so a lost laptop is not a breach.
- Backups kept apart. Copies stored separately from the originals and restored on a schedule.
- Watched around the clock. 24/7 monitoring on every TechState™ level, and 24/7 Cyber Response from TechState™ Assured.
The council's CyberWise programme
CyberWise**, run by Ards and North Down Borough Council through an external partner, ran from December 2025 to March 2026 1Source 1Ards and North Down Borough Council launches new cybersecurity business support programme for local SMEs (Sync NI, 2025)syncni.com/article/14433/ards-and-north-down-borough-council-launches-new-cybersecurity-business-support-programme-for-local-smesSee in Sources. Businesses with up to 250 staff received funded mentoring, workshops and an assessment, and came away with a cyber action plan in line with Cyber Essentials 1Source 1Ards and North Down Borough Council launches new cybersecurity business support programme for local SMEs (Sync NI, 2025)syncni.com/article/14433/ards-and-north-down-borough-council-launches-new-cybersecurity-business-support-programme-for-local-smesSee in Sources. Check with the council whether there will be another round. If you already have a plan, we can put it into practice and keep it current.
Phishing, in plain terms
The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2026, a UK-wide study, found phishing to be the most common attack, reported by 38% of businesses 2Source 2Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026 (UK-wide) (GOV.UK, 2026)www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-20252026/cyber-security-breaches-survey-20252026See in Sources. A phishing email might claim to be a parcel firm, a supplier, HMRC or Microsoft, and it usually wants one thing: for someone to type a password into a fake page or open an attachment.
Training helps, but people will always click eventually. That is why we pair filtering with multi-factor sign-in, so a stolen password alone is not enough, and with monitoring that spots a sign-in from somewhere it should not be.
When something goes wrong
Since 2015, fraud and cyber crime in Northern Ireland have mostly been reported to a national centre, now called Report Fraud 3Source 3Police Recorded Crime Bulletin, period ending 31 March 2026 (PSNI, 2026)www.psni.police.uk/system/files/2026-05/525903612/Police%20Recorded%20Crime%20Bulletin%20Period%20Ending%2031st%20March%202026.pdfSee in Sources. The PSNI asks firms to call 101 if a fraud is in progress, occurred less than a day ago, or needs money or evidence secured quickly 4Source 4Reporting fraud (PSNI, 2026)www.psni.police.uk/safety-and-support/keeping-safe/protecting-yourself/scams-and-fraud/reporting-fraudSee in Sources. Even counting only what it records itself, the PSNI saw 3,894 online-flagged crimes in 2025/26, 4.2% of the total 3Source 3Police Recorded Crime Bulletin, period ending 31 March 2026 (PSNI, 2026)www.psni.police.uk/system/files/2026-05/525903612/Police%20Recorded%20Crime%20Bulletin%20Period%20Ending%2031st%20March%202026.pdfSee in Sources.
Our first steps after a suspected compromise are remote: passwords reset, sessions ended, mail rules checked. A visit to Newtownards follows if a device needs examining; on-site support is part of the standard service.
Free help and Cyber Essentials
The PSNI Cyber Crime Centre runs free sessions and tabletop exercises for small businesses and charities 5Source 5Cyber Protect: the PSNI Cyber Crime Centre's help for businesses (PSNI, accessed 2026)www.psni.police.uk/safety-and-support/online-safety/cyber-protectSee in Sources, and the NI Cyber Security Centre publishes guidance written for smaller firms 6Source 6NI Cyber Security Centre (NI Cyber Security Centre, accessed 2026)www.nicybersecuritycentre.gov.uk/See in Sources. We test your systems against the five Cyber Essentials controls, fix the gaps and support the self-assessment; TechState™ Assured includes Cyber Essentials readiness. Security is part of each TechState™ level, priced per user, per month, and the certification fee is paid to the certification body.
Sectors we protect around Newtownards
Reading for Newtownards firms
Questions from Newtownards
Yes. Most security work is remote, so location makes little difference, and on-site visits are part of the standard service wherever you are on the peninsula.
The programme ran from December 2025 to March 2026. Ask Ards and North Down Borough Council whether another round is planned. We can help you act on a plan you already have.
Yes. We keep payment devices and guest Wi-Fi on separate networks from your office computers and keep everything updated.
Ring us and leave the evidence in place. We reset the password, sign the account out everywhere and check for rules the attacker added. Report it to Report Fraud, and if personal data may be exposed you may need to tell the ICO no later than 72 hours after finding out.
Often. It gives you a sound baseline, it is increasingly asked for by customers and insurers, and the controls it needs are ones you should have anyway.
Sources
- 1.Ards and North Down Borough Council launches new cybersecurity business support programme for local SMEs, Sync NI, 2025.↩https://syncni.com/article/14433/ards-and-north-down-borough-council-launches-new-cybersecurity-business-support-programme-for-local-smes
- 2.Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026 (UK-wide), GOV.UK, 2026.↩https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-20252026/cyber-security-breaches-survey-20252026
- 3.Police Recorded Crime Bulletin, period ending 31 March 2026, PSNI, 2026.↩https://www.psni.police.uk/system/files/2026-05/525903612/Police%20Recorded%20Crime%20Bulletin%20Period%20Ending%2031st%20March%202026.pdf
- 4.Reporting fraud, PSNI, 2026.↩https://www.psni.police.uk/safety-and-support/keeping-safe/protecting-yourself/scams-and-fraud/reporting-fraud
- 5.Cyber Protect: the PSNI Cyber Crime Centre's help for businesses, PSNI, accessed 2026.↩https://www.psni.police.uk/safety-and-support/online-safety/cyber-protect
- 6.NI Cyber Security Centre, NI Cyber Security Centre, accessed 2026.↩https://www.nicybersecuritycentre.gov.uk/
** CyberWise ran only from December 2025 to March 2026. Check with Ards and North Down Borough Council whether there will be a future round.
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