New initiative will provide advice and threat intelligence
Credit: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay
The London mayor’s office and the capital’s police forces have launched a new cybersecurity support centre to work with small and medium businesses across the city.
The Cyber Resilience Centre (CRC) will provide firms with access to support from technology experts and law-enforcement professionals from the Metropolitan Police, as well as the City of London Police and British Transport Police. The aim is to help improve SMEs’ resilience to cyberthreats and support the response of companies that have been attacked.
Businesses can sign up online for a free membership, after which they can immediately access free resources, including advice on cyber safety. Members will also receive monthly reports on the latest cyberthreats and a newsletter with suggestions to bolster their defences. A dedicated cyber resilience team will be on hand to field urgent questions and will also provide training for staff at member businesses.
The centre – which is backed by Home Office funding and £200,000 from the mayor’s office for a community outreach programme – aims to work with 20,000 companies over the next three years.
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Cyber Resilience Centre chief executive Simon Newman said: “I’m delighted to be bringing the launch of the Cyber Resilience Centre for London to City Hall. We’ve been generously supported by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, and it’s fantastic to be able to celebrate our shared vision together. 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 [training] 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.”
The creation of the cyber initiative comes on the back of recently published figures from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau that found about £1.8bn has been lost to cybercrime and fraud in London over the past year.
Deputy mayor for policing and crime Sophie Linden said: “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.”
