The Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland has announced that it has moved away from being a not-for-profit organisation, and will now be the ‘country’s first cyber social enterprise’.

The Centre’s new structure will see any profits made through professional services, such as its testing, Cyber MOT and executive education programmes, reinvested into causes that align with the organisation’s existing values and culture.

The move will also enable the Centre to champion a shared purpose of creating lasting and positive change in the world of cyber, with trusted partners and clients, in an affordable, relevant and accessible way.

In becoming a social enterprise, the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, will align itself with the values of other organisations that are already committed to making a difference, whilst setting a clear example for others to follow.

Over the last three years, the Centre has accomplished deeds in a number of areas which companies which focus solely on profit struggle to do.

From taking around 800 calls into its cyber incident response line, to working on over £30 million of fraud related calls with over £13 million stopped or returned to a client, The Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland hopes to continue this work under their new model.

The Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland further used its position as a not-for-profit to employee ethical hacking students from Abertay University, as well as working with school-aged girls to break down stereotypes of the tech industry and encourage women into tech careers whilst sponsoring the Cyber First Girls competition.

The group has also provided support to charities including Edinburgh Remakery and Medics Against Violence, as well as providing 1,000s of hours of free training and advice to organisations of all sizes, helping them learn how to identify, respond to, and prevent cyber fraud.

“Since its inception, the core belief of Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland remains the same – to be a socially driven organisation delivering accessible, affordable and relevant cyber and fraud services,” Jude McCorry, CEO of Cyber and Fraud Centre, said.

“That’s why we’ve made the step change to become Scotland’s only cyber social enterprise.

“I am very proud of all the work we do with every member of the team and the trusted partners that we collaborate with. We could not achieve all this on our own and are very lucky to work with like-minded people who share and support our vision, with more exciting collaborative projects coming in the future.

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“Our dedicated team protects organisations nationally with our offering on professional services, skills and community building.

“By reinvestimg in our cyber and fraud community, we ensure that all private, public and third sector organisations we work with have access to our people and resources to stay secure.”

Paul Atkinson, chairman of the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, added:  “Becoming a social enterprise represents a natural step in the evolution of the support the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland provides and reflects a broader vision of combining purpose and profit to benefit the wider community.

“Now, as a member of Social Enterprise Scotland, this new mission-led approach ensures that our work benefits both our clients, and society as a whole. A good example is our work with Street Soccer Scotland where the team has supported fundraising efforts and helped to strengthen the charity’s cyber posture, giving them a secure base to grow and continue to help those who need it most.”