The Cyber Resilience Centre partners with HOST's newly established Security Operations Centre

HOST, the Home of Skills & Technology at Media City, in partnership with Salford City Council is bringing to market a unique Security Operations Centre (SOC), offering an affordable cybersecurity subscription-based support service to SMEs innovating and adopting digital and cloud technologies.

As part of this, the North West Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC) will be offering Cyber MOTs in partnership with HOST, which will include security awareness training and a cybersecurity assessment.

The Cyber MOTs will help scaling businesses and their teams to understand the risks of cybercrime and identify and prevent potential security issues through a comprehensive assessment, with recommendations on how to integrate security best practices. The HOST SOC is also partnering with Siemens to support manufacturing and engineering businesses with an Industrial Cyber MOT, offered exclusively to SME manufacturers that are members of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce as part of their membership benefits.

This follows the UK government’s recent Cyber Security Breaches Survey, which found that nearly four in 10 businesses (39 per cent) have reported a cyberattack, while the average cost to companies that have been hit by cyberattacks in the last 12 months is estimated to be £8,460.

All businesses are at risk of hidden cybersecurity breaches and with organisations finding it harder to monitor employees working from home during the pandemic, they may be less aware of the attacks their staff are facing.

In response to this demand, HOST is developing a state-of-the-art Innovation Lab, which will house the 24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) and Network Operations Centre (NOC) cyber support as a service. The centre will provide public sector organisations, enterprises and SMEs with a secure, tailored and scalable cyber solution.

HOST has also partnered with Lancaster University to develop collaborative activities to accelerate research, development and innovation with start-ups and SMEs through Innovate UK programmes such as the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) scheme.

“The Cyber Resilience Centre is excited to be working with HOST to deliver fully funded Cyber MOTs to help protect our business community from cybercrime. The cybercrime threat to SMEs has never been greater, with cybercriminals taking advantage of the pandemic to carry out damaging attacks on businesses of all sizes as they increasingly work online. Working in partnership is in our DNA and helps us provide trusted, government-backed, easily accessible and practical support where it’s most needed.”

“We are delighted to be working in collaboration with the Cyber Resilience Centre to help businesses in the region gain confidence in knowing that their operations have been thoroughly assessed for cyber threats, so they can take the appropriate actions to secure their business. Our Security Operations Centre is a perfect illustration of how public and private partnerships can forge a formidable infrastructure to support organisations to drive innovation and productivity, creating highly skilled jobs for local people.”

Businesses that are interested in finding out more about the Cyber MOTs can contact Claire Bennett for further details: claire.bennett@hostsalford.co.uk