Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland has hailed its delivery of more than £3m of cyber resilience support and community benefit across Scotland during its first full year operating as a social enterprise.
As it went to a social enterprise model in January 2025, the Centre reinvests profits generated through its cyber security services – such as vulnerability testing, ‘Cyber MOTs’ and executive education – back; to charities, community groups, social housing organisations, SMEs and those affected by cyber and fraud incidents, while also investing in the next generation of cyber talent. That includes:
The Centre points to its long-standing partnership with Dundee-based Abertay University – offering aspiring ethical hackers paid placements at the Centre. Seventy ethical hacking students have now been employed through the programme over the last six years, with many going on to careers in cyber security.
The Centre has continued its “See It Be It” initiative, designed to encourage more young people – particularly women – to consider careers in cyber. Over the last year, the programme engaged 20 schools and more than 200 schoolgirls through conferences, virtual events and discussions with industry professionals.
Jude McCorry, pictured, CEO of Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, said: “As Scotland’s only cyber security social enterprise, our purpose goes beyond service delivery. We reinvest our time, expertise and resources to support the communities we serve, helping ensure organisations are not priced out of protection and that cyber resilience is accessible to all.
“With organisations under increasing pressure to demonstrate strong cyber security standards tounlock business opportunities, cyber resilience is now an economic imperative as much as it is a security one.
“We are incredibly proud of the impact achieved in our first year as a social enterprise and grateful to everyone who has contributed. As the Centre continues to grow, so too does our ability to give back. Over the coming year, we’ll continue expanding our programmes, with a particular focus on evolving our Incident Response Helpline to provide ongoing – rather than just incident-specific – advice. We also remain committed to investing in programmes like See It Be It to help shape the future cyber workforce.”
