The Scottish Business Resilience Centre has a new name. The not-for-profit is now known as Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, as it’s extending its focus to include financial fraud.
Paul Atkinson, Chair of Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, said: “Over half of reported crime is related to fraud or cyber, but they’re both hugely underreported – so it’s likely they pose an even greater threat than the numbers indicate. As a nation, we are handling support for cyber crime victims well, but victim support around financial fraud is severely lacking. We need to examine how to collectively prevent and protect from this type of fraud, and the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland team is well equipped to lead the conversation around this.”
And Jude McCorry, pictured, CEO of Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, said: “Financial fraud – including cyber crime – is set to be reclassified as a threat to national security, which will see it treated as seriously as terrorism and civil emergencies. We’ve seen a huge increase in this type of crime over the past year, and a lot of victims don’t get the support they need, which is why we’ve added fraud to our organisation’s purpose.
“Cyber crime such as cyber attacks and financial fraud often cause businesses to pause operations; ransomware attacks prevent them from accessing their systems and financial fraud could render them unable to pay wages and suppliers. This can be devastating for small businesses and charities in particular, who may end up ceasing operations entirely.
“We’ve renamed ourselves Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland in recognition of our enhanced focus on empowering and educating organisations across the country on the risks caused by cyber crime and fraud. The name also clarifies what we do and means we are holding ourselves accountable and committed to tackling cyber crime and fraud to make Scotland a safer place to do business.”
The new brand comes, the Centre adds, as cyber attacks and fraud are on the rise: Police Scotland figures show the number of cyber crimes in 2021-22 was nearly double that of 2019-20.
The Centre meanwhile went over to a four-day working week recently. Visit www.cyberfraudcentre.com.
