This month, UK policing is marking National Cyber Security Awareness Month, inspired by similar annual initiatives held around the globe.
Cyber crime is something that can affect any organisation’s ability to trade, recruit and maintain their reputation – whether a micro, small, medium or large operation. As such, cyber resilience is rightly moving up the agenda of business owners and leaders from public, private and third sectors across the country.
With National Cyber Security Awareness Month now underway, it is a prime opportunity for organisations to assess their cyber resilience and take proportionate steps to ensure they are well protected from cyber criminals.
In support of this, throughout October, the National Cyber Resilience Centre Group (NCRCG), a police-owned, not-for-profit company, will be sharing first-hand experiences and testimonies from across its network to highlight the importance of cyber resilience and, in particular, the types of services small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) can and could be accessing.
The nine Cyber Resilience Centres were established across England and Wales specifically to provide the type of accessible support and advice SMEs need. Importantly, working in partnership with local policing teams, each regional centre understands the trading and crime trends within that locality. With over 9,000 SMEs already registered to centres across the network, it is clear how essential this support is.
Detective Superintendent Vanessa Eyles, Director of the Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, said:
“National Cyber Security Awareness Month is an excellent way to raise awareness of cyber security amongst businesses and charities who often don’t quite know where to start in protecting their workplaces from cyber criminals. Typically we find that business owners and leaders are unsure of who they can speak to for trustworthy advice or where they can find support that is proportionate to their needs.
“That is where our network of regional Cyber Resilience Centres comes in. Police-led but working in partnership with government, industry and academia, we help businesses bolster their cyber resilience by offering affordable support and advice. We can’t prevent attempts at cyber crime but we are committed to doing all we can to protect our nation’s businesses.”
Detective Superintendent Ian Kirby, incoming CEO at NCRCG, said:
“National Cyber Security Awareness Month marks an opportunity for us to make a concerted effort to raise awareness of cyber resilience, in particular amongst the SME community which is our focus at NCRCG. Any organisation that’s been impacted on by a cyber attack knows how much time and effort it requires and the risk to trading and operations it can cause – not only affecting those directly involved but the wider supply chain and customer base.
“Putting in placing appropriate preparations is vital to minimising risk and any period of recovery. Finding what’s appropriate as a sole trader or micro organisations in particular can be very challenging and that’s why the network of Cyber Resilience Centres exists.“The pandemic followed by the cost-of-living crisis has meant that SMEs across the country are facing challenges on several fronts. Cyber resilience is one challenge that we – and the Cyber Resilience Centre Network – can and are helping business owners and leaders to address, enabling them to stay focused on the jobs that they really want to be focusing on.”
