Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken to encourage awareness of cyber-crime in small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Government is committed to helping businesses protect themselves against cyber-crime.

Cyber Streetwise is the Government’s national campaign to increase online security by encouraging SMEs and members of the public to take simple actions to protect themselves and their information online as they would do in ‘real life’. Cyber Streetwise first launched in January 2014 and is funded by the Government’s National Cyber Security Programme. Following its initial success, Phase 2 of the campaign launched last month with a newly designed website, and further content for SMEs.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has delivered a range of products, including publishing a range of good practice cyber security guidance aimed at businesses of all sizes, and launched the industry approved "Cyber Essentials" scheme which enables businesses to implement a good basic level of cyber security.

In addition, the Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP) is part of CERT-UK (Computer Emergency Response Team), the UK's national Computer Emergency Response Team, and provides a secure platform for businesses to share information and intelligence on cyber security threats.