Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to help protect businesses from cyber attack after the cyber attack on Metro bank in February 2019.

Protecting UK businesses from cyber attacks is a key priority within the Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) works with a wide range of partners to provide advice and support to businesses and organisations across the UK, enabling them to put measures in place to protect against cyber attacks. Up to date guidance - such as the Small Business Guide for SMEs - is freely available on NCSC’s website and is underpinned by NCSC’s insights into cyber threats. The NCSC has also published its Board Toolkit to help company boards better understand cyber security.

Government continues to engage with businesses of all types and through multiple channels to raise awareness of cyber security best practice. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published the FTSE350 Cyber Governance Health Check for the UK’s leading firms; Ministers have recently undertaken a series of industry roundtables to drive action on cyber security, and DCMS has worked with Home Office to deliver the Cyber Aware campaign for businesses.