Third Sector Membership Competition Launched
To celebrate the launch of our first Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland Impact Report, we are delighted to also launch a special competition –…
Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland Reinvests Over £3 Million Into Cyber Resilience and Community Support
Since transitioning to a social enterprise model in January 2025, the Centre reinvests profits generated through its professional cyber security services – including vulnerability testing, Cyber MOTs and executive education programmes – directly back into initiatives that strengthen Scotland’s cyber resilience and support those organisations most vulnerable to cyber crime and fraud.
Over the last year, the Centre has provided extensive support to charities, community groups, social housing organisations, SMEs and individuals affected by cyber and fraud incidents, while also investing in the next generation of cyber talent and widening access to careers in the sector.
The investment comes as organisations across the public, private and third sectors face growing pressure to demonstrate robust cyber security standards as part of procurement, partnerships and supply chain assurance, while cyber threats continue to escalate in scale and sophistication.
Among the impact delivered during the first year as a social enterprise:
- Cyber training: Delivered more than £1.4 million worth of free CPD-accredited cyber training, supporting over 500 charities and social housing organisations and 200 SMEs across Scotland.
- Executive education: Provided over 50 free places – worth more than £25,000 – to third sector senior leaders and board members through the Centre’s Cyber Executive Education programme.
- Cyber MOTs: Delivered more than £45,000 worth of free Cyber MOTs to charities and SMEs to strengthen cyber posture and improve resilience.
- Incident recovery support: Provided over £500,000 of direct support to help organisations respond to and recover from cyber attacks, including assisting more than 50 SMEs through the Centre’s free National Cyber Incident Response Helpline. Cases included ransomware, phishing and Business Email Compromise attacks.
- Early intervention: Intelligence-led interventions helped prevent 10 Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, saving organisations more than £100,000 in estimated business interruption costs.
- Fraud support: Through the Cyber and Fraud Hub, more than 700 individuals affected by fraud received practical and emotional support, with over £1.6 million in losses prevented or recovered between 2024–2025.
Alongside its direct cyber resilience and fraud support work, the Centre continued investing in Scotland’s future cyber workforce through its long-standing partnership with 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 secure long-term careers in cyber security.
The Centre also continued its “See It Be It” initiative, designed to encourage more young people – particularly women – to consider careers in cyber security. 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, 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 to unlock 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.”
To celebrate the release of the report, Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland is launching a competition for 25 third sector organisations across Scotland to win a year of cyber security support, worth over £10,000. Registered charities can enter here: https://cyberfraudcentre.com/third-sector-membership-competition-launched.
Thank you to all our supporters, partners and clients for their continued assistance and help. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to share cyber security advice and guidance Scotland-wide, reinforcing key messages and building resilience.
To access a copy of our 2025 – 2026 Impact Report, please click below.
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