Picture a burglar who used to pick locks by hand. Now imagine someone handing them a master key and a map of your building. They aren't a better burglar, but they're a much faster one.
That's where cybercrime is heading. For the growing UK organisations Dunedin IT supports, where technology now sits at the heart of every working day, keeping ahead of it matters. That's why we send our engineers out to see what's changing, rather than waiting for it to come knocking.
On 8th September, Project Engineer Jason and Systems Engineer Malcolm attended the Huntress Roadshow at The Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh, an afternoon of real-world attacks, how they unfolded and what stopped them.
🤖 Can AI make scam emails harder to spot?
Criminals aren't inventing new ways in. They're getting better tools for the old ones:
- ✉️ AI now writes polished scam emails and translates them flawlessly into any language
- 🚫 The badly spelt "urgent request" is on its way out
- 👔 Its replacement reads as if it came from your finance director
🏢 In the real world: in 2024, an employee at global engineering firm Arup was tricked into transferring around £20 million after a video call with what appeared to be the company's finance director and colleagues. Every face on the call had been faked using AI.
"AI isn't reinventing cybercrime, but it's letting people do familiar things faster and on a much bigger scale. Understanding how those tricks are changing tells us what to look out for."
Jason - Project Engineer
✅ Closing the gap: when the spelling mistakes disappear, your team needs sharper instincts. Practical awareness training and a second check at every login (Proactive Cyber Security) mean even a convincing email can't open the door on its own.
🔎 Your shop window is also their research
Before a burglary, a thief walks past the house a few times. Online, that walk-past happens on:
- 📱 Social media
- 🌐 Your own website
From there, attackers work out who approves payments and who's worth impersonating. The more a business grows, with more people, more sites and more suppliers, the more there is to research.
🏢 In the real world: the 2025 attack on Marks & Spencer reportedly began with criminals impersonating staff to talk their way past an IT helpdesk. No clever hacking required, just a convincing phone call. Online orders were suspended for weeks, with the retailer estimating a hit of around £300 million.
✅ Closing the gap: simple habits, like verifying identity before resetting a password or confirming bank detail changes by phone, can stop them in their tracks. Getting those processes right is about clear policies and good security planning (vCISO & Cyber Strategy) as much as software.
⏱️ How quickly can a cyber attack spread?
The moment that stuck with Malcolm most came from a real incident discussed on the day. From the point an attacker started moving through a company's systems to the point they launched ransomware (software that locks your files and demands payment), just six minutes passed.
Less time than it takes to make a cup of tea. For an organisation with hundreds of staff relying on its systems, finding that the next morning is like discovering a kitchen fire at breakfast.
🏢 In the real world: when Jaguar Land Rover was hit by a cyber attack in September 2025, production lines stopped for around five weeks, with the knock-on effects felt right through its network of UK suppliers. When technology is critical to day-to-day operations, a few minutes can turn into weeks.
"It can take attackers just minutes to go from gaining access to deploying ransomware across an infrastructure. That's why having the right security in place matters so much."
Malcolm - Systems Engineer
✅ Closing the gap: you need the smoke alarm, not just the fire brigade: Someone watching around the clock (Monitoring & Alerting) and a clear plan for the moment the alarm goes off (Mitigation & Response).
🔧 Is antivirus and a firewall enough?
The most reassuring lesson of the day: the fundamentals still do the heavy lifting. Like servicing a car, it's the unglamorous checks that keep you safe on the road.
- Regular check-ups and testing (Vulnerability & Pen Testing) find weak spots early, because it's far better to have a locksmith rattle your doors than a burglar.
- Backups that are kept separate and actually tested (Backup & Continuity) give you a way back, because an untested backup is a hope, not a plan.
- And basics that suited a smaller business may have quietly developed gaps as it grew (Legacy), which is where recognised standards like Cyber Essentials (Certification & Compliance) help, acting as an MOT certificate you can show clients and insurers.
🏢 In the real world: after a ransomware attack in late 2023, the British Library spent many months rebuilding its systems, with parts of its services still disrupted well into the following year. Its own review pointed to older systems that were hard to protect and harder to restore, a reminder that recovery planning matters as much as prevention.
🏠 Bringing it home to Dunedin IT
Jason and Malcolm didn't just pick up where they left off. They turned their notes into a presentation for the wider Dunedin IT team, sparking a proper conversation about what applies to the businesses we look after.
That matters to us because our clients don't want a helpdesk that simply reacts. They want a partner who thinks ahead, gives honest advice and understands where their business is going. The value of a day like this isn't the branded lanyard. It's coming back with:
- ❓ Sharper questions
- 💡 Fresh ideas
- 🧰 Practical knowledge that shapes how we look after your IT
The threat keeps moving. So do we.
💬 Could your business stop an attack in six minutes?
If you're not sure, it's worth a conversation. The Dunedin IT team is always happy to talk through how your organisation is protected today and whether anything deserves a closer look, in plain English and without the hard sell.
