Cyber strategy

  
To request your CBR click here

Small and medium-sized businesses in Hertfordshire are falling victim to cyber crime which is costing them millions of pounds every year.

In December 2018 I launched a joint strategy with Hertfordshire County Council to be the first in the country to focus on preventing cybercrime rather than just responding to it.

Our aim is to help the county's 60,000 SMEs protect themselves, but most small businesses are either unaware of the risk or don’t consider it serious.

Even among those businesses that do, many feel there’s nothing they can do or don’t know where to start.

Many SMEs feel that there is nothing they can do to protect themselves from cybercrime.  Business owners frequently cite difficulty in implementing cyber security measures with many saying that they ‘don’t know where to start’ in order to deal with cyber issues.

Not all businesses have the same level of resource with which to defend themselves against the cybercrime threat, but SMEs must understand that not only are they a target, but that cyber criminals view them as easy pickings.

I want to help SMEs defend themselves against these opportunistic criminals, and I am working in partnership with the private sector to provide all small businesses in Hertfordshire with a free cyber ‘health check’.




Called a Cyber Basics Review (or CBR) a Herts-based IT expert will sit down with you and make sure that you are getting the basics right. This sort of service, which provides you with an action plan to make your business safe would normally cost hundreds of pounds, but you can have one for free.

The whole process takes about an hour and can be carried out remotely via video call.  Remember, this is about getting the basics right, so it is not designed to be highly technical.  9 out of 10 businesses who have been through the scheme told us it was easy or very easy to understand.

Of course, only 1 in 10 thought they could have completed it on their own without an expert to guide them through it so take advantage of this opportunity to get free, expert support.

None of the Hertfordshire small businesses that have taken part in this scheme have become victims of cybercrime in the 12 months since taking part.



Working in partnership with Hertfordshire Trading Standards, all our providers are certification bodies for HM Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme and can be trusted to provide expert advice and guidance.

For more information and to secure your free consultation send an email to cyberprotect@hertfordshire.gov.uk and one of our providers will be in touch to arrange an appointment.

You can find out more information in this podcast.


Read Tackling Business Crime Together