The world’s largest building society, Nationwide, has been named a National Ambassador of the National Cyber Resilience Centre Group (NCRCG). In this new role, the organisation will be helping to shore up the cyber defences of the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Nationwide joins a host of top-tier National Ambassador partners including Aviva, CGI, Chainalysis, CompTIA, HP, ISC2, Mastercard, Microsoft, NatWest Group, Resilience, SANS Institute, SAS, Sir Robert McAlpine, The Very Group and Trustify.
NCRCG forms part of the Cyber Resilience Centre (CRC) network alongside nine regional CRCs which, through Cyber PATH – an elite talent pipeline for university students – deliver high-quality and tailored cyber resilience services to SMEs in their localities.
As a National Ambassador, Nationwide will be working with NCRCG to roll out a campaign amongst its SME suppliers to strengthen their cyber defences. This will include providing SMEs with access to specialist support from the CRCs, alongside targeted and relevant information about cyber security risk and how the Cyber Essentials standard can deliver proven results to reduce the likelihood of a cyber breach impacting their business.
Sharon Gould, Supplier Security and Resilience Manager at Nationwide Building Society, said:
“Protecting our customers against fraud and scams and preventing criminals at source is a priority at Nationwide. It’s vital all areas of the supply chain work together sharing resources and the latest technology to stay ahead of criminals. We are pleased to be joining forces with NCRCG and working closely with the policing community and other National Ambassador organisations.”
Detective Superintendent Ian Kirby, CEO at NCRCG, said:
“We are so pleased to be joined by an organisation as well-established as Nationwide and one which can act as a direct conduit to the type of SMEs our network is working day in, day out to reach.
“It is excellent to see our National Ambassador programme continuing to attract notable organisations like Nationwide who believe in the significance of our work. With our Ambassadors’ support, we will continue to do all we can to provide our nation’s SMEs with access to the cyber guidance and advice they need and, in doing so, make the UK as strong as it can be against cybercrime.”
