New £1.5m centre to combat ‘accelerating’ cyber threat
Scotland is strengthening its response to the growing cyber threat with the creation of a new Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3).
The new £1.5 million centre will pool expertise from a number of ‘centres of excellence’, including the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and Police Scotland.
The Scottish government says SC3 will be “globally unique” in its ability to “prevent and respond to the highest level of cyber threat”.
Initially, its primary focus in the first year will be on the public sector and how Scotland can manage threat and vulnerability at scale; how to build the cyber security capabilities of the public sector; and how responses to incidents can be more rapidly identified, managed and investigated.
SC3 was created as part of the Scottish government’s Covid Recovery Strategy commitment to establish a “recognised, authoritative and collaborative function to combat the accelerating threat of cyber attacks”.
It will pool expertise to share intelligence, provide early warning of cyber threat and attacks, manage incidents and lead recovery.
Recruitment for a head of the centre is already underway, with SC3 set to be formally launched later this year.
The creation of SC3 was announced ahead of the start of CyberScotland Week on Monday (February 28), which will feature more than 100 events and activities across the country, focusing on building the cyber resilience of individuals, businesses and organisations.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “At times of heightened international tension, it is more important than ever to ensure that Scotland is ready to defend itself against cyber attacks.
“Sustaining and increasing Scotland’s cyber resilience requires us to continue harnessing the power of working in partnership, and stepping it up at all levels.
“Establishing a new dedicated cyber coordination centre is a bold and ambitious development for Scotland.
“By providing a central coordination function that pools expertise from across a number of existing or developing centres of excellence, we can maximise our ability to work together to address cyber threats and attacks – whether that is sharing intelligence, providing early warnings, managing incidents or leading recovery.”
Including the new head of the centre post, it is expected that there will be nine dedicated members of staff recruited during year one. In the first instance, staff will be located within the Scottish government.