Scotland is set to become a Cyber Security leader

Scotland is taking the lead on cyber security after unveiling a three-year action plan to become a world leader in the sector.

Scottish Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has highlighted that the cyber security sector is expected to significantly expand across the globe in the coming years, bringing significant economic opportunities.

“It has never been more important to be cyber resilient. Digital technologies bring enormous opportunities for Scotland – but also new threats and vulnerabilities.”

Cyber Resilience Economic Opportunity Action Plan

The Scottish Government is collaborating with the National Cyber Resilience Leaders Board who believe that Scotland has the capability to develop and supply world-leading research, goods and services at a time when domestic and global demand for cyber resilience is increasing.

Working together with Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government will ensure that Scotland exploits the opportunities, through academia and the private sector, of the ever-increasing demand for cyber security products.

Around £1 million has been given to Scottish Enterprise to identify and fund ways to develop the sector

This includes £500,000 for a Cyber Essentials voucher scheme for small and medium-sized third and private sector organisations.

Announcing the plan, Mr Mackay said:

“The Cyber Resilience Economic Opportunity Action Plan sets out the key practical steps the Scottish Government and key partners will take collectively to support the growth of Scotland’s cyber security firms. It aims to encourage the development of innovative cyber security research and deliver world-leading cyber security goods and services. As the cyber threat increases, demand for cyber security goods and services increases. There is an opportunity for Scotland’s cyber security businesses to reap the benefits of this growing demand.”

Scotland has already made a positive impact on the industry with world-class expertise in university courses as well as an increasing number of cyber security companies

The Cyber Resilience Economic Opportunity Action Plan expects to see the market grow to over $144 billion in the coming years.

The plan’s strategy is to nurture the market to develop the right conditions to support and inspire continued growth in the cyber security business community in Scotland.

The plan also sets out to ensure that there is rich academic research supported by growing innovation within the cyber security industry. David Smith of Scottish Enterprise emphasised the importance of

“the right cluster management arrangements to ensure the approach is co-ordinated … and the right brand to help promote Scotland’s cyber security cluster in the UK and internationally, and reflect Scotland’s emerging position as the place to be for researching, developing and supplying cyber security goods and services”.

Cyber Essentials

The certification defines a focused set of controls which provide clear guidance on basic cyber security for organisations of all sizes, and offers a sound foundation of cyber security measures that all types of organisations can implement at a low cost.

Cyber Essentials is the minimum certification an organisation needs to implement in order to bid for new public sector contracts which include the transfer of public sector identifiable information.

Cyber Essentials Plus is a more rigorous test of your organisation’s cyber security systems where our cyber security experts carry out vulnerability tests to make sure that your organisation is protected against basic hacking and phishing attacks.