CyberScotland Week 2025 is about to kick off, packed full of conferences, workshops, and panel discussions focusing on cybersecurity across Scotland. 

The week-long event offers in-person and online events focused on a central theme of “Can’t hack it?!?”, emphasising everyday actions that can enhance cyber resilience for individuals and organisations alike. 

Organised by a coalition of organisations brought together by the Scottish Government’s Cyber Resilience Unit, the initiative aims to raise awareness of cybersecurity and better prepare Scottish organisations and people with the necessary tools to stay safe against growing and evolving cyber threats. 

The importance of cybersecurity cannot be underestimated, yet routinely, smaller businesses, the public sector, and the third sector are left behind in terms of resources and skills to mitigate against common and emerging threats in the cyber landscape. 

Ransomware costs surge, data breaches and data leaks abound, and advancing technologies like AI tend to offer as many potential harms as they do solutions. 

“It’s an exciting time for Scotland with the acceleration of the energy transition and the advancement of AI technologies, and we need to ensure we’re protected from the risks so we can leverage those opportunities,”Clare El Azebbi, chair of CyberScotland Partnership and head of the Scottish Government’s Cyber Resilience Unit said.

“That applies to our national infrastructure and the digital systems supporting it, all the way down to our personal and work devices and data.

“No event is too small for CyberScotland Week – every conversation can have a positive impact on our cyber resilience as a nation.”

With all that in mind, what does this week have in store? DIGIT has combed through the week’s itinerary to highlight some of the top in-person and online events held across the Scottish nation. 

Third Sector Safety 

The Abertay cyberQuarter will be hosting a Cyber Drop-in Clinic for the Third Sector on the 24th, providing a space for organisations and workers to ask a cybersecurity expert any questions they may have about cybersecurity and cyber-related concerns. 

The clinic will include help from Abertay University students, providing an avenue for knowledge exchange between young cyber talent and experienced third sector professionals. 

More information here. 

Other third sector organisations can head to Codebase’s Stirling location for a ScotlandIS interactive workshop on the 24th that can provide them with the tools, knowledge, and connections to boost their cyber resilience. 

Held in collaboration with SCVO, the event includes talks, a workshop, as well as a ‘meet the experts’ sessions where third sector organisations can ask about personalised steps they can take to improve their organisation’s cybersecurity. 

“As the average digital footprint of a business grows ever larger, cyber security has never been more important,” Karen Meechan, CEO ScotlandIS, said. “Access to the digital world has become indispensable to nearly every organisation and, while the benefits that can bring are huge, it’s vital we are all aware of the risks that come, hand in glove, with that access.”

More information here. 

Top Safety Tips from Scot Gov 

The Scottish government is hosting an online session on the opening day (24th) of the week’s events, offering top tips on how to be more safe online. 

While the basics may be well understood, many smaller organisations still falter when it comes to basic cyber hygiene, and these missteps can be disastrous against burgeoning cyber threats. 

Register for the event here. 

Later on the same day, organisations can test their knowledge in a live quiz hosted by the Scottish government, that will ask questions surrounding basic cybersecurity concepts. 

“To improve Scotland’s cyber resilience we need organisations in every sector, and people in every community, to have ongoing conversations with their staff, members, networks, family, and friends about cyber security, the risks, and what everyone can do to stay safe online,” El Azebbi said.

“CyberScotland Week is designed to provide both an impetus, and an outlet for those conversations.”

Fighting Sextortion

Police Scotland has teamed up with fearless, an anonymous reporting service part of Crimestoppers, to deliver an online seminar on the 24th on combating sextortion, aimed at parents and children to keep them safe online. 

Sextortion is a rising problem across the UK, reflected in the number of events focused on the topic in CyberScotland Week. 

Basil Manoussos will be delivering an online talk on the 28th detailing the fallout of doxxing and sextortion, allowing participants to better understand the disturbing phenomenon. 

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For Cyber Professionals

While cyber professionals and experts can benefit from participating in a range of events, those selected below are specially tailored to benefit cyber leaders and the many issues they face in their roles, as well as the ever-changing cyber landscape they face. 

ScotlandIS is hosting a CISO Safe Space on the 24th aimed at cyber leaders, who often face mental health issues due to the stress of their roles. The potential for a cyber-attack, the high-stakes of sensitive data protection, and the need to be consistently on alert has driven burnout and a mental health crisis within the industry, with many cyber leaders losing sleep over their roles. 

The Safe Space, held in partnership with CyberNorth, is meant to provide a respite to cyber leaders to discuss their struggled amongst their peers, raise awareness of the issue, reduce stigma around the struggle of mental health, and promote self care. 

“ScotlandIS has been involved in CyberScotland Week since its inception, championing cyber resilience across all sectors, encouraging organisations to treat it as a board level issue,” Karen Meechan, CEO, ScotlandIS, said.

“This year, we’re doing more than ever by hosting the ‘CISO Safe Space,’ a dedicated session focused on mental health in the cyber security industry, providing a confidential forum for senior leaders to share challenges and support one another, partnering with SCVO to help the third sector stay safe online and speaking at schools to highlight the importance of online safety for young people.”

Register for the Glasgow-based, in-person event on the 24th here. 

Those in Aberdeen can attend a panel discussion featuring cybersecurity leaders from TechForce, Arctic Wolf, Arnold Clark, and Enquest, hosted by Robert Gorden University. 

The panel will discuss evolving cyber threats and how businesses can stay ahead of the curve, detailing recent cyber breaches, emerging threats, and practical cyber solutions. 

Find out more about the event on the 26th here. 

There’s no better way to learn than from experience, and participants in Dundee can experience a simulated cyber-attack without any real life consequences. 

At You’ve been hacked, Now What?, participants can experience a cyber-attack in a trial run to put their cyber resilience skills to the test. 

With the simulated cyber-attack, attendees can see how their skills and solutions would play out in the real world, providing a platform to test their defenses before a real attack occurs. 

Register for the event on the 3rd of March here. 

While cybersecurity may mostly take place on machines and over code, most security breaches involve a human element. 

Designing cybersecurity systems and solutions with humans in mind can be vital to ensuring these are robust against cyber-criminals and human error – cyber leaders can learn about this strategy at CeeD’s workshop focusing on building cyber solutions with a human element in mind. 

Find out more about the National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland hosted workshop on the 4th of March here. 

Looking for more cybersecurity events in Scotland? Join us at Scot-Secure 2025 in Edinburgh on 27 March, or Scot-Secure West in Glasgow on 10 September.