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Scotland launches new budget-friendly tool for businesses looking to enhance their cybersecurity credentials
The Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland , a leading and trusted provider of cybersecurity services , training and advice , has launched a new tool to help budget-conscious businesses of all sizes assess their overall cybersecurity strength .
The Cyber MOT has been designed following consultations with stakeholders and clients and is aimed at organisations that know they need some assistance to improve their cyber-resilience , but don ’ t know where to start . The MOT provides a snapshot of where they are in their cyber journey , to support internal discussions with team members , senior leaders and their board , which helps with strategic planning to identify areas that need immediate attention and urgent investment .
The Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland team has received numerous calls from organisations applying for government tenders or seeking investment , where having cyber essentials is a requirement . A lot of organisations don ’ t have this certification , may not have heard of it and don ’ t know where to start on their journey to achieving it .
Nearly one in four UK SMEs identify remote working as a key cybersecurity concern
A new study by Markel Direct , a specialist insurer of small businesses , has revealed that nearly one in four SMEs are concerned about how they secure remote working environments for employees working away from the office .
The survey , which asked 500 SME owners to share the challenges they are facing when it comes to cybersecurity , identified that securing remote working environments was a key concern for 23 % of SMEs . It ranked in second place in the list of cybersecurity concerns for the future for SMEs , with the increased sophistication of cyberthreats firmly in the top spot with an overwhelming 62 % of respondents reporting it as a concern .
When asked how those with remote workers ensure the security of company data when accessed by employees working from home , the majority ( 52 %) said they use virtual private network ( VPN ) access , 48 % train their employees on secure remote work practices and 46 % have remote access policies and controls in place .
SME lender secures new £ 200 million funding led by Citi
iwoca , one of Europe ’ s largest SME lenders , has announced a new £ 200 million package of debt funding from Citi and Waterfall Asset Management and doubles its SME loan offer ceiling to £ 1 million .
The funding follows a series of investment rounds in the past two years , attracting £ 740 million debt funding from partners including Citi , Barclays , Värde Partners , Pollen Street Capital and Insight Investment . This takes investment in the business to almost £ 1.5 billion since launching in 2012 .
The FinTech lender has doubled the size of its maximum loan as it looks to meet as yet untapped demand for larger loans from medium-sized businesses .
This follows data from iwoca ’ s latest SME Expert Index , which suggests that almost one in three brokers believe that loans over £ 100,000 will see the most new applications over the next six months .
The lender has also recently been placed as one of the top 10 performing FinTechs in the UK .
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