Cybercrime has increased considerably in the last months in Malta, with hundreds of reports filed with the police. It is estimated that about half a million euros have been stolen from personal accounts, but the figure could be higher as many are afraid or shy to report. Undoubtedly, cybersecurity is a growing concern in Malta and it is not going away easily. 

As the pandemic has pushed a lot of business interactions to be done online, significant amounts of money are increasingly being lost annually, not least in Malta. This increase has also resulted in a spike in the number of online scams, leaving lots of businesses and individuals in Malta vulnerable to hacks, theft, or even held at ransom. How such events are evolving is now putting a lot of strain on individuals, businesses and, not least, their employees.

For this purpose, Malta BNI, forming part of the world’s largest referral organisation, is focusing its eighth BNI Business Briefing (BBB) on cybersecurity. This free 30-minute introductory session for nontech persons will be held on July 7, 2021 at noon, for which visitors and non-members are welcome. Malta BNI’s speaker will be Ian Bugeja who has over 15 years of experience in the IT security space, building security software for SMEs. 

“Businesses, individuals, and also NGOs, need to be prepared to understand the implications and be aware of how to handle even simple transactions. In this webinar, we will cover some of the most important aspects of staying safe in the cyber world, using as non-technical jargon as possible so that everybody can understand the reasons behind most of the common attacks and how to protect
themselves and their business,” Bugeja said. 

After graduating from the University of Malta with BSc IT(Hons), Bugeja started his career at GFI Software, a Maltese and international security vendor as a software developer working on security products. After six years operating as a software developer, he joined product management and, until recently, he was VP of Product for its entire suite of products ranging from firewalls, e-mail security products, and vulnerability and patching software. Now he is co-founder of Maltabased AIRO Ltd to help both Malta-based and international organisations in the IT space, focusing primarily on security. 

The Malta BNI Business Briefings initiative is a series of freeof-charge public online brief meetings organised by Malta BNI, forming part of Business Network International (www. bni.com). Operating on the principle of Givers’ Gain and promoting innovative concepts of business referrals, today BNI has more than 10,000 chapters with more than 270,000 members. In 2020, notwithstanding the pandemic, through its innovative systems and core values, BNI members generated more than €14 billion in business transactions. 

In Malta, BNI fosters stronger collaboration and partnerships between businesses, especially micro- and small enterprises, as it creates new commercial opportunities in Malta and beyond, especially in these uncertain times. Moreover, since July 2020, Malta BNI has embarked on a series of international joint business meetings with entrepreneurs and businesspersons who are BNI members in Italy, the US, South Africa, Cyprus, Finland, Israel and even Latin America. 

Recently, Malta BNI issued a call for a select number of NGOs to benefit from BNI’s Givers Gain philosophy. CORE Platform and JAYE Malta are two NGOs who are already benefitting in a tangible manner from this initiative. 

Malta BNI was established in 2012. Today it has five active chapters, which are currently and regularly meeting via zoom. Visitors and non-members are welcome. The next Malta BNI Business Briefing, entitled ‘Cyber Security − How can SMEs protect themselves, for the non-techsavvy’, is open and free of charge.

One can join this webinar on July 7 by registering on https://bit.ly/3qxynQW. 
For more information about this event, which is free of charge and open to non-members, e-mail Carmel Bonello at carmelbonello2020@outlook.com, Viviana Premazzi at viviana@gmdmalta.com or David Bullock at david.malta.bni@ gmail.com