London Police Launch New Cybersecurity Initiative for Local Businesses

The City of London police introduced a new initiative on Monday aimed at helping local businesses defend themselves against cyber threats.

Called Cyber Griffin, the initiative is based around three key deliverables, including free-of-charge threat briefings, incident response exercises and advisory groups.

Starting June 29, police officers will deliver threat briefings throughout the year to teach attendees basic cyber defender skills. The events will also cover the latest updates in intelligence and invite members of local businesses to network and share their best practices.

“The initiative is predicated on our belief that the greatest impact we can have on tackling cyber criminality lies in improving defender skills,” said the city’s law enforcement officials.

“It aims to reach those with very little knowledge of cyber-enabled threats, all the way up to individuals who hold IT security and risk roles,” London police said.

In addition, officers will deliver three different levels of incident response exercises – from basic response training to expert response drills carried out in real-time for more advanced community members.

Furthermore, advisory groups comprised of a wide range of experts from both the industry and the private sector will provide less experienced business community members valuable cyber insight.

Sergeant Charlie Morrison, Cyber Griffin lead officer, adds that Cyber Griffin is about “basics done well,” he told Infosecurity Magazine.

“Cyber-criminals specialize in looking for the weak spots in security… Through briefings, incident response drills and expert guidance, the aim is to get the fundamentals right every time,” said Morrison.

For more information about the initiative and to sign up for one of the free threat briefings, click here.