Launching at London’s City Hall
On Tuesday 25th October, we had the great privilege of formally launching our new Cyber Resilience Centre for London at City Hall to an audience of supporters drawn from policing, industry and academia.
Having been generously supported by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, it was fantastic to be able to celebrate our shared vision together.
We launch into a landscape where more than £1.8 billion was lost to fraud and cybercrime in London over the last year (according to figures from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau), highlighting the urgent need for action.
Far too many small businesses in the capital are impacted by cybercrime, with billions of pounds lost and thousands of lives impacted each year. Our new Cyber Resilience Centre will help businesses stay safe online and protect them from cyber criminals. This is all part of our work to build a safer, more prosperous city for everyone and I urge all businesses in London to sign-up and use the centre’s services.
Catherine Roper, Commander, Metropolitan Police
On the day, we heard from a number of speakers, including:
- Sophie Linden – Deputy Mayor of Policing and Crime
- James Thomson – Chair, City of London Police Authority and Chair, National Cyber Resilience Centre Group
- Ben Johnson – Mayoral Head of Business and Economic Policy
- Angela McLaren – Commissioner, City of London Police
- Catherine Roper – Commander, Metropolitan Police
- Abdullah Khan – Cyber PATH Supervisor, National Cyber Resilience Centre Group
- Sara Crofts – Chief Executive, Institute of Conservation
And of course, our own CEO Simon Newman!
I’m really ambitious about the future of the CRC for London. I want to see it grow as a partnership between policing, industry and academia; for us to be seen as a trusted, reliable partner to the Capital’s SME community; and for our Cyber PATH programme to produce consistently high-quality talent. In 10 years’ time, I want to look back and be able to say that we have helped make London the safest city in the world to do business online.
Simon Newman, CEO, the Cyber Resilience Centre for London
We were particularly pleased to unite London’s police forces, with support from both Metropolitan Police and City of London Police demonstrating the joined-up approach necessary to seriously address the threat of cybercrime across the City.
The launch of the London Centre is a really important milestone for us. It's the final piece of the jigsaw, we join 8 other centres across England and Wales that focus on helping SMEs and third-sector organisations reduce their vulnerability to the most common types of cybercrime.
Angela McLaren, Commissioner, City of London Police
It was also enlightening to hear from a small business’ perspective with a talk from ICON’s Sara Crofts, who has previously contracted services from the Centre.
Sara was enthusiastic about how the CRC approach helped to demystify and simplify what had been a huge concern for her organisation
I want that impartial advice, I want that friendly place that I can turn to, I want to know that the information I’m getting is tuned to my needs as a small business, and I want it to be practical and actionable. I have to say quite genuinely... that I feel confident that the CRC is a good first place of call
Sara Crofts, Chief Executive, Institute of Conservation
We’d like to extend a huge thanks to everyone able to attend on the day. We were blown away by the turnout and all the positive feedback we received following the presentation.
We’d also like to thank the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, who helped us coordinate the event and have been excellent champions of the cause in support of the Mayor’s ambition to make London the safest city in the world to do business online.
Having secured a generous funding package from the Mayor’s Office, our ambitious plan to strengthen London’s business community now continues in earnest.
Keep an eye out to see what we get up to next!
And remember to sign up to our free Community Membership programme to keep up with the latest from the Cyber Resilience Centre for London.