New Cyber Resilience Centre for the South West

The South West Cyber Resilience Centre (SWCRC) is a police/ private not-for-profit partnership, funded by the Home Office, and covering the South West of the country. It offers free and inexpensive cyber services for local SME’s and third sector organisations.

Cyber is dauting for small businesses and sole traders. It’s hard to know where to start, services can be expensive, and it’s not always obvious who you can trust. The South West Cyber Resilience Centre (SWCRC) aims to solve all of these problems.

Of course, businesses may feel that they have bigger problems right now. But 46% of UK businesses were targeted last year, and if your computers were locked by ransomware next week and you couldn’t trade, it might just be a final straw. There are simple steps you can take to stop this happening: the digital equivalent of putting a lock on your front door.

Businesses and charities can register with SWCRC for free core membership. This provides a package of nationally-produced guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre, which sets out very simply the key risks you should be thinking of, and how you can reduce them.  There's also a SWCRC follow this up with personal contact to make sure everything’s ok, and after that, a regular newsletter to keep you abreast of the latest scams and threats. So it’s a one-stop shop that helps you get safe, and stay safe.

If you need more bespoke advice, SWCRC employs top-quality undergraduates from local universities who are checked, trained, supervised and monitored by national experts. They can provide a number of services very inexpensively, from checking out information available publicly and through the darkweb which might compromise your safety, through to more detailed audits of your processes and systems.  

For the most complex services, SWCRC has a network of ‘trusted partners’ who have the right national accreditations to demonstrate a level of technical competence to work with you. SWCRC can signpost you to them so that you know you’re using someone reputable.

You can see more about SWCRC services, and register for free membership, at www.swcrc.co.uk, or email [email protected].