- CyberScotland Partnership has created a new advisory guide to ensure businesses are equipped in the eventuality of a cyber incident.
- Guide will support the approx. 62% of UK businesses that do not have a formal cyber security policy in place.
- Features checklists and guidance on emergency contacts that businesses and charities may need to call on.
- Guides are available to download now from the CyberScotland Portal.
THE CyberScotland Partnership has produced a brand-new Incident Response Guide to provide practical advice to businesses on how to handle a cyber-related incident. The launch follows data from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport which found that only 38% of businesses and 42% of charities have a formal policy in place covering cyber security risks.[1]
Best suited for small businesses or charities that don’t have in-house incident response teams, the easily digestible pack includes longer length advisory pieces on reputation management and legal considerations. It also contains checklists and editable documents which centralise the important contacts businesses must speak with when experiencing a cyber incident.
The guide provides companies that have never developed an incident response plan with tools to ready their business for a cyber related incident. The checklists included in the guide will also ensure those businesses that do have an incident response plan have considered the full spectrum of possibilities – from noting energy supplier contact details to clarity around the business’s most valuable assets.
Jude McCorry, Chair of the CyberScotland Partnership, said: “Since we launched the CyberScotland Partnership six months ago, we have focused on providing Scottish businesses with practical advice on how to become more cyber resilient. The Incident Response Guide is an extension of this; we designed it so that business owners and leaders can pick it up and use it straight away.
“It’s no longer an option to create an incident response plan and then leave it to gather dust; with the threat of a cyber attack higher than ever, businesses must be proactive when it comes to protecting themselves. This new guide will ensure they not only understand the benefit of being proactive when it comes to IT security but also ensure that their teams are aware of the role they play too – particularly when welcoming new team members.
The pack also features contributions from international law firm, CMS, and Scotland’s first tech PR boutique, Clark.tech.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2020/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2020
