The UK official National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is inviting organisations to help develop a new Cyber Advisor service. A Cyber Advisor will be someone assessed by the NCSC as having a good understanding of baseline security controls and the ability to provide practical help to companies who want to achieve them.
Qualified advisors will initially focus on helping their customers meet the official certification Cyber Essentials’ five technical controls – firewalls, secure settings, access controls, malware and software updates. The scheme’s delivery partner is IASME, which offers various security-related assessments. The NCSC will initially be paying for the initial 100 advisor assessments.
Register your interest via ISAME – https://iasme.co.uk/cyber-advisor-scheme.
Comments
Adam Brady, Director, Systems Engineering, EMEA at cloud security product company Illumio said: “Current NCSC consultancy assurance only covers issues relevant to large organisations with complex cybersecurity needs. The intention here, therefore, is to expand cybersecurity advice across all organisations. It is certainly true that small businesses are disproportionately impacted by overarching regulations and should benefit from personalised consultancy services. However, much like the government’s recent Data Reform Bill, the clear focus on removing the burdens for smaller companies that are seen to generate friction also acts as another differentiator for post-Brexit UK versus the EU.
“Ultimately though, this scheme is another step in the right direction when it comes to ensuring businesses of all sizes get the help they need when it comes to cybersecurity, especially in a world where ransomware and supply chain attacks are only increasing.”
And Dr Darren Williams, CEO and Founder of Blackfog said: “Our research tells us that cybercriminal gangs often take the path of least resistance, targeting those organisations who have left themselves vulnerable to bad actors by being under protected and under resourced when it comes to cyber defence; some smaller organisations even make the assumption they won’t be targeted as they ‘have no data of value’! The new Cyber Advisor Scheme proposed by the NCSC is a positive move in the right direction to help fight cybercrime. Our hope is that the experts will look beyond first and second-generation cybersecurity technologies like Antivirus and EDR and focus on newer technologies that prevent data exfiltration to wholly protect organisations from extortion and secure their most valuable asset, data.”
Visit https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/cyber-advisor.
