The Cyber Resilience Centre for London - Demystifying the cyber landscape
The growth of technology has opened up new ways of working, new markets and new opportunities for businesses of all sizes. From being able to sell products or services online, to improving engagement with customers, technology has an important role to play in the growth of British businesses. But it is not without risk. Criminals have also been quick to identify and exploit the opportunities provided by new technology with cyber-crime and fraud now accounting for over half of all crime in England and Wales.
So who are the Cyber Resilience Centre for London?
Achieving this ambition requires a joined-up effort across a wide range of stakeholders, including Central Government and the wider law enforcement community. The Cyber Resilience Centres are an important part of this response and are organised into nine regions covering the whole of England and Wales.
Each Centre is a not-for-profit organisation led by the police. They are supported by Government through a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and are partly funded by the Home Office. In London, the Centre is a collaboration between the City of London Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
The primary focus of each Centre is simple - to help Small and Medium-sized businesses (SMEs) improve their ability to recover quickly in the event of an attack or breach. When we talk about SMEs, we mean any organisation with fewer than 250 employees - including organisations in the third sector.
Being a victim of a cyber-attack or breach can cause significant disruption. Whether it’s the time taken to deal with the incident itself or being unable to trade while the incident is being dealt with, the impact can often be devastating for SMEs. As the latest Cyber Breaches Survey Report shows, the average cost of a cyber-attack or breach is £4,2001 and sadly, with the number of incidents rising rapidly, it’s a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’. Therefore, our focus is on helping SMEs minimise the impact it will have on their business when it does happen.
How does the Cyber Resilience Centre for London help support the Government’s ambition of making the UK the safest country in the world to do business online?
The Centre firmly believes in taking a positive approach to cyber resilience. Our messaging focuses on the business benefits of being more resilient, demonstrating how it can help your business grow safely in a world where technology plays an increasingly important part of our lives.
Our first year will focus on ‘Getting the Basics Right’. This is about demystifying the subject and using simple language that everyone understands. We’ll also show you how to implement basic control measures, such as setting a strong password policy and enabling two-factor verification through a series of ‘how-to’ guides. These are simple things that take a few minutes to do but are a massive step forward in boosting your resilience.
FREE Membership
Our free membership package is at the heart of what we do. Anyone signing up to it will receive a monthly newsletter, as well as access to a range of free resources from the NCSC and others. Members are also able to purchase additional services from the Centre. Further information on these services can be found here.
Accessing Specialist Help
Many SMEs understandably find it difficult to find a cyber security vendor who can meet their needs. Some may not understand what they need, how much it costs or who they can trust. Therefore, to help SMEs navigate the UKs growing cyber security marketplace, each Centre has a list of Trusted Partners who can provide you with more technical support.
Developing the Cyber Security Talent Pipeline in the UK
The UK has a growing shortage of skilled staff with just under half of businesses unable to carry out basic cyber security tasks2. The Centres play an important role in filling this gap through their work with universities to provide undergraduates studying cyber related courses the opportunity to gain valuable commercial experience delivering basic cyber services to SMEs.
A Visible Presence in the Community
Being an SME, we know just how busy you are and recognise that it’s not always possible to take time out of your day to attend an in-person event. To address this, our Community Outreach programme comes to you instead. Funded by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, staff from the Centre work alongside uniformed police officers to visit business owners at their place of work to talk about cyber resilience. We’ll shortly be announcing more details about our Community Outreach programme.
…and finally
Above all, we want to make sure that every SME in the Capital has access to the tools they need to achieve the Mayor’s vision of making London the safest City in the world to do business online. Join us today as a Member and see how we can help you improve your cyber resilience.