The Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) has appointed Alison Stone as Cyber Resilience Co-ordinator for the Third Sector. The SBRC points to a UK-wide report from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which indicated that more than a quarter of voluntary sector bodies experienced a cyber breach or attack in 2020.
Leading the delivery of the Third Sector Cyber Resilience Action Plan, a plan developed by the Scottish Government to help make Scotland’s third sector more cyber resilient, Alison will work with charities and voluntary bodies on communications, training, and partnerships; and educate on best cyber practices and responses to attacks. Scotland has some 25,000-plus registered charities. Alison will build on work in her previous role at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), where she was Cyber Resilience Coordinator.
Jude McCorry, CEO of the SBRC said: “Alison joins the SBRC at a critical time for third sector organisations. Digital technologies are being increasingly adopted across the sector and they hold real opportunity for organisations, their service users, staff and volunteers. However, as we have seen in 2021’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey, a great deal of risk is also associated with this uptake.
“Alison brings a breadth of knowledge and experience in business resilience, but it is her recent work with charities and voluntary organisations that will be particularly useful in helping Scotland’s third sector organisations develop robust cyber practices and effectively manage new threats and vulnerabilities.”
Alison, pictured, added: “There has been a significant uptake amongst third sector organisations for cyber resilience prevention measures in recent years, but more needs to be done to mitigate the risk from increases in the number of and complexity of cyber attacks. The SBRC has made real progress in promoting the value of cyber resilience, and I look forward to building on their success to further enhance knowledge and understanding in the area to create creating a safer cyber landscape for Scotland’s voluntary organisations.”
With over 20 years of experience working in IT based roles, Alison held positions at BB Hobbes and at business continuity and data protection consultancy, 3 Minutes to Midnight, where she provided guidance in GDPR compliance, business and service continuity management, IT reviews including policies and procedures, and training.
More on the SBRC in the June print edition of Professional Security magazine.
