Lindy Cameron, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has commented that Scotland’s ecosystem and collaborative mindset is a huge advantage in countering cyber threats.

However, Britain’s most senior cybersecurity official has urged all organisations to carry out a basic ‘cyber hygiene’ test to reduce the risk of a cyber-attack.

According to Lindy Cameron, carrying out these basic tests could prevent incidents of cyber-crime from taking place at all.

Speaking at the CyberScotland Summit in Edinburgh, Cameron praised Scotland’s approach to cybersecurity and cited its existing ecosystem as a key aid in limiting the potential fallout of cyber-attacks.

Clare El Azebbi, Head of the Cyber Resilience Unit at Scottish Government – who also spoke at the event – pointed to the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre, founded earlier this year, as an example of the government’s push to support a more digitally safe country.

She noted its ultimate vision is to have agencies throughout Scotland and the wider UK work together to rapidly issue intelligence, share early warnings, and help manage incidents at pace.

A major part of boosting the cybersecurity sector in Scotland is through diversity, according to Daniel Sellers, Cyber Resilience Learning and Skills Coordinator at Scottish Government, who pointed out diversity is increasing – but only at entry levels of employment.

A recent (ISC)2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study found women accounted for less than a third of cyber security workers under 30 in the UK, but only 14% of those over 60. This indicates a clear demographic shift which speakers hoped would continue in the future, noting a focus on educating primary school students in cyber could have a long-term effect.

Freha Arshad, Managing Director at Accenture commented: “Diversity is not just about gender or socioeconomic background; we’re only just getting to grips with neurodiversity. We do a lot of work getting neurodiverse people through the door, but most companies don’t have processes set up to help them once they’re there. We’ve only half solved the problem.”

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MSP Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans and speaker at the event, discussed the important of cyber messaging in shoring up defences.

He noted that society’s growing reliance on technology can have devastating consequences in case of a cyber-related crisis, referencing the recent cable failure in Shetland which led to banks closing and people unable to access money to buy food.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said: “Normally the cable connecting Shetland to the Faroe Islands could have picked up the load, but it was undergoing maintenance at the time. That tends to be the nature of these issues, which is why cyber resilience is so important.

“This is never going away as we rely on technology and there are always going to be criminals trying to profit from that. There will always be cyber threats and the Scottish Government is committed to working together with partners to mitigate these issues.”

Speakers throughout the day underlined the need for trust and transparency in strengthening relationships – across borders and sectors, and even among competing organisations – to ensure a completely cyber resilient Scotland.

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