Cambridgeshire fights cyber crime with new COVID-19-secure training centre

01/09/2020

As a hub for organisations delivering digital innovation and leading-edge solutions in technology, medicine and telecommunications, Cambridgeshire is considered the ‘Silicon Fen’ of the UK. It is also a cyber crime hotspot.

In a recent data analysis of 20 UK regions, the ONS (Office for National Statistics) revealed that Cambridgeshire suffered the sharpest increase in cyber crime between 2016 and 2018, with the number of cases escalating by 49% (from 2,789 to 4,155).

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem, with cyber crime levels rising exponentially during lockdown as criminals targeted remote workers with phishing, scams and malware.

Part of the Cambridgeshire against cyber crime campaign, IT Governance is dedicated to helping professionals in the county develop their cyber security and data privacy skills by facilitating classroom training in a COVID-19-secure training centre. Based in Ely, Cambridgeshire, the centre has been designed in line with UK government guidance, promising attendees the highest standards of health and safety.

Purpose-built training centre designed with health and safety in mind

Verified under the NQA COVID SECURE Guideline Verification Scheme, IT Governance carried out a risk assessment and has been audited to comply with UK government guidance on managing the risk of COVID-19. To meet compliance requirements and ensure the safety of training attendees, the centre:

Provides training attendees with exclusive use of facilities;
Offers ample space to maintain social distancing of two metres;
Has a non-contact thermometer to check each attendee’s temperature daily;
Provides attendees with antibacterial care packs, and ‘individually packaged, sealed lunches in disposable containers; and
Meets high sanitation standards in line with government guidance for its cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures.

Find out more about our state of the art training centre.

Delivered by a world-class team of data protection and cyber security experts, IT Governance’s training courses offer a wide range of high-quality and cost-effective training solutions covering:

Data protection - including ISO 27701 and BS 10012
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Cyber security
ISO 27001
ITIL®
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
Business continuity and ISO 22301
Ethical hacking CEH)
Professional qualifications such as CISA®, CISM®, CISSP®, CISMP, CRISC™ and CGEIT®.

Cyber security during the pandemic and how organisations adapted

IT Governance conducted a survey of more than 200 organisations during the COVID-19 lockdown about their experiences adapting to the pandemic:

39% said they had difficulties adapting, with 4% confessing they have not coped very well.
More than a third (36%) think that they will never go back to the way things were before lockdown, and nearly half (49%) believe they will go through several cycles of lockdown and eased restrictions. 
More than three quarters (77%) admitted they did not have a bring your own device (BYOD) policy that covered domestic equipment in a remote working environment, such as network routers, before lockdown.
50% had adapted their policies and procedures to home working or stated that it was not necessary, 38% said this was in progress and 10% said it had not adapted them.

Geraint Williams, Chief Information Security Officer of GRC International Group, said:

“The lack of staff training around the cyber risks COVID-19 has presented for remote working is worrying. There are huge consequences for not training staff on how to implement information security at home, and this should have been a priority for all organisations when a mass move to home working became evident.”

Cambridgeshire professionals can learn about the cyber threats they could be exposed to by attending IT Governance’s free webinar on 1 October 2020 from 3:00 – 3:45 pm. Delivered by Geraint Williams, the webinar will discuss the top cyber threats organisations are facing in the current climate.

IT Governance, has produced a suite of products and services in response to the data privacy and security risks presented by COVID-19.

The COVID-19 product suite features a range of solutions, including remote working policies, remote access penetration testing, security staff awareness training for remote teams, business continuity support, and a COVID-19 consultancy support service that delivers data privacy, cyber security and legal expertise in one contract.

To find out more about IT Governance’s solutions and how to book, visit the website.