The engineering firm refused to meet the hackers ’ d emands Attack.Ransom and the Daily Echo understands it lost access to vital data including personal information about its staff , who number around 100 . Businesses have been warned that such ‘ ransomware’ attacks Attack.Ransom are on the rise and that companies need to train all staff to be vigilant . Police said an East Dorset company – which the Echo is not naming – had reported on June 1 that it was the victim of computer fraud . “ It was reported that their computer was hacked and a demand was made Attack.Ransom for £120,000 , ” a Dorset Police spokeswoman said . “ The victim was referred to Action Fraud to report. ” Ian Girling , chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry , said : “ Cyber crime is on the increase and all companies are vulnerable to attack . “ What ’ s really important is that staff are trained because it ’ s quite often staff opening emails and dealing with stuff . Responsibility doesn ’ t just lie with IT departments . All staff need to be aware of the potential threat to the business . “ There are lots of good companies in Dorset to help businesses with this. ” The incident echoes t he WannaCry ransomware attack Attack.Ransom which infected an estimated 200,000 computers globally last year , including up to 70,000 in the NHS . Matt Horan , security director of C3IA Solutions in Poole – one of the first companies to be certified by the government ’ s National Cyber Security Centre – said : “ You s hould never pay a ransom Attack.Ransom because there is no guarantee you will get your data back . During an attack the data doesn ’ t go anywhere , it is just encrypted and you need a decryption key or algorithm to unlock it and get it back . “ If you p ay Attack.Ransom a criminal to return your data there is a good chance that he or she will take the money and not decrypt the data – or even a sk for more money. Attack.Ransom “ It ’ s important to back up all data and to ensure it ’ s backed up without the virus or ransomware in it . Therefore all backups should be virus checked prior to storage off-site. “ You do not want to clean your system of the malware only to re-introduce the same problem from your back-up . It ’ s also important to regularly check the back-up to ensure data can be recovered from it. ” General Sir Chris Deverell , commander of the UK ’ s Joint Forces Command , warned yesterday of cyber threats from abroad , which could target infrastructure such as power stations and air traffic control . “ We must make sure our cyber security is constantly improving , ” he said . “ It ’ s a very important thing and every sector of society is very focused on it . ”