City of London Police will kick start May with a new initiative to help protect the Square Mile against cyber attack.
‘Cyber Griffin’ will see specially-trained officers lead a series of community-focused exercises including threat briefings and incident response training.
It will be targeted at the business community and aims to reach those with little knowledge of cyber-enabled threats, all the way up individuals who hold IT security and risk roles.
City of London Police Commissioner and National Policing Lead for Economic Crime, Ian Dyson, said: “As criminals working in the cyberspace become more sophisticated, it’s important we all have at least basic skills to combat those that seek to do us harm.
“Through this initiative the police and industry can work together to share skills and knowledge to protect ourselves from this evolving crime”
Police will run free threat briefings for businesses to outline the latest updates in intelligence, and deliver incident response scenarios to provide an insight into police decision making. Advisory groups made up of a wide range of experts in threat intelligence and cyber security will also be formed under the initiative to provide advice to firms with little or no experience in dealing with cyber threats.
Sergeant Charlie Morrison who will lead the Cyber Griffin delivery team, said that the City’s large concentration of big businesses vulnerable to attack means “the best offence is a good defence”.
“Although cyber criminality challenges traditional policing as we know it, we are now more capable than ever to tackle the problem,” he said.
“However, it’s imperative we work with our local community to do this, especially in such a unique area as the City of London which is full of businesses who have the potential to be the target for a cyber attack.
“Cyber criminals specialise in looking for the weak spots in our security. Cyber Griffin therefore is about basics done well. Through briefings, incident response drills and expert guidance, the aim is to get the fundamentals right every time.”
