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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to improve awareness of the Cyber Essentials scheme among the public and businesses in East Renfrewshire constituency.

As part of the National Cyber Security Strategy, the Government is helping organisations across the economy and society improve their digital security. We are promoting the uptake of the Cyber Essentials (CE) scheme, which is targeted at businesses and organisations, in a number of ways, including through the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) extensive engagements with industry sectors and via police regional organised crime units, which engage with businesses locally.

The Government’s Cyber Aware campaign helps the public and small businesses take up secure online behaviours, including signposting businesses towards Cyber Essentials and other guidance and support.

Up to the end of April 2020, 44,443 Cyber Essentials certificates have now been awarded to organisations, including 5,534 since the start of 2020.