The North West Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC) is here to grow and strengthen the region's resilience to online crime. In this blog, we outline the history of the CRC, what we do and how we work with businesses in the region.

The North West Cyber Resilience Centre was launched in November 2019 and was founded to help the region combat cybercrime - and we're already helping hundreds of businesses.

But who are we and why do we exist? Who do we help and how? This blog tells you everything you need to know...

What is the North West Cyber Resilience Centre?

The NWCRC was established in 2019 as the first centre in the country and a pathfinder to the Home Office.

The Cyber Resilience Centre is a trusted, not-for-profit venture between North West Police forces and Manchester Digital.

It is our ambition that every business within our region will have the skills and knowledge to protect themselves from online attacks in order to make the region one of the safest places to live, work and do business.

We achieve this by providing education, testing and training delivered by our team of trusted professionals, seconded police officers and Ethical Hacking students studying cybersecurity at local universities.

We are proud to now form part of a national network of regional Cyber Resilience Centres, featured in the HM Government National Cyber Strategy 2022.

The NWCRC is led by Detective Superintendent Neil Jones of Greater Manchester Police. Meet him and the rest of the team here.

Why does the Cyber Resilience Centre exist?

Cybercrime is a growing problem. Last year, the 2021 Cyber Breaches Survey showed that cybercrime is estimated to cost the Greater Manchester economy £860million per year. With 31% of businesses who identified breaches or attacks experienced them at least once a week.

Cyber attacks are potentially ruinous events for business owners, with impacts financially and on a business's reputation. The average cost of a cybersecurity breach in the United Kingdom is £4,200 across all businesses, however, this figure reaches £19,400 for medium and large businesses.

Here at the Cyber Resilience Centre, we provide guidance and toolkits that help businesses improve their cyber resilience and mitigate the threat posed by cybercriminals.

How do we help businesses?

The first step to cyber resilience is knowledge. That’s why we produce guidance and newsletters that keep you updated on the latest cyber news, security updates, views, guidance and events relevant to the region’s business community.

We provide a range of services delivered by top talent from local universities, including security awareness training. We work alongside a network of Trusted Partners who are official providers of Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus Certification – to guard against the most common cyber threats and demonstrate your commitment to cybersecurity.

We have also produced a range of guidance for a select number of sectors that we find have been most at risk;

• Education Sector
• Charities
• Accounting Sector

What support can the centre offer businesses in Greater Manchester?

In July of 2021, the centre announced a new fully-funded Business Resilience Program. The aim of the program is to support 300 businesses in Greater Manchester, at a critical time when many have moved online during the pandemic.

Any business based within Greater Manchester can apply. You do not have to be a company that operates online to access the support. Many types of businesses want to protect their staff, their company and customers' data. At a time when many businesses have moved online during the pandemic it’s important we’re all aware of the threats from online crime.

This program includes three key benefits:

1. Business Starter Membership - This 12-month membership (usually £500) includes Security Awareness Training (for two members of staff).
2. Cyber Security Policy & Procedure Templates - This documentation ensures your business has the most recent cybersecurity policies and procedures in place.
3. 1-2-1 Security Consultation - This consultation (up to 1 hour) allows us to work with you to review what current security measures you have in place, and answer any questions you have about cyber security.

Would my business pass a Cyber Health Check?

Only 17% of businesses train their staff in cyber security, but the average cost to businesses in lost data and assets is £4,200. We have designed our Cyber Health Check in collaboration with Police and ISO accredited Risk Managers (aligned to the UK Government’s Cyber Essentials certification scheme and ISO 27001) to provide businesses with a summary of their Cyber Risks and an action plan to help protect them against the latest cyber threats.

Learn more about the Cyber Health Check here.

What services do we provide?

We provide a range of affordable cyber resilience services with the latest knowledge and technical expertise. Our services help SMEs and therefore supply chain prepare and improve cyber resilience.

From security awareness training to internet investigations and vulnerability assessments, our services will help boost your cybersecurity strategy.

Learn about our services here.

What other membership options are available?

We’re able to offer businesses FREE membership in addition to our paid membership opportunities. Businesses can choose from four membership options:

• Free Membership
• Business Starter (£500)
• Business Enhanced (£1,000)
• Business Premium (£1,500)

Learn about these membership options here.

Who are our Trusted Partners?

Our Trusted Partners are official providers of Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus Certification. ​​

Cyber Essentials helps you to guard against the most common cyber threats and demonstrate your commitment to cybersecurity which can often become a requirement when tendering for work in both the public and private sector.

Cyber Essentials is a simple but effective, Government-backed scheme that will help you to protect your organisation, whatever its size, against a whole range of the most common cyber attacks.

Meet our Trusted Partners here.

Who else do we work with?

We work in partnership with the region’s Police Cyber Protect Network, which works proactively and reactively on significant cybercrime investigations.

We recently announced our strategic partnership with the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC), the largest accredited Chamber of Commerce in the UK.

By working alongside the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), we’re able to keep our members up to date with the latest cyber threats and guidance.

What is the NW Cyber Student Chapter?

In October of 2020, we launched the NW Cyber Student Chapter. This community has been created to offer students who are studying cybersecurity in the North West a chance to meet their peers from other universities and hear from senior experts in the industry.

We are proud to support students from across the North West through close collaboration with these universities; The University of Manchester, the University of Salford and Manchester Metropolitan University.

If you're a student interested to learn more, you can signup for the NW Cyber Student Chapter here.