Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help small businesses in Hamilton and Clyde Valley constituency protect themselves from cyber-attacks.

Cybercrime causes immense damage to people and businesses across the UK and is a leading government priority. The Home Office work closely with our partners, including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), National Crime Agency (NCA) and across policing, to use all possible levers to disrupt cyber threats and keep businesses secure throughout the UK.

The NCSC, in collaboration with the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, provide a range of free guidance, tools and services through CyberScotland, established to provide tailored cyber resilience support for organisations across Scotland, including those in Hamilton and Clyde Valley.

This includes the Cyber Action Toolkit, which provides accessible actions specifically designed to help small businesses improve their cyber security and the Early Warning Service, which provides notifications of potential cyber threats affecting a business’ own networks.

The Government also encourages all UK businesses to adopt Cyber Essentials, the Government-backed certification scheme which helps organisations protect themselves against the most common cyber threats. Small and medium-sized businesses preparing for Cyber Essentials can access a free 30-minute consultation with an NCSC-assured Cyber Advisor, which we encourage all constituents of Hamilton and Clyde Valley with businesses to take up. More information can be found on the CyberScotland website: https://www.cyberscotland.com/advice-and-guidance/certification/