Local authorities will receive £37.8m to boost their cyber resilience, the Government has announced today.
The funding has been announced as part of the Government's first ever Cyber Security Strategy to make public services more resilient against hostile cyber attacks.
The plan includes the creation of a new Cyber Coordination Centre to help transform how data and cyber intelligence is shared across the public sector.
A new service will also allow members of the public to report weaknesses in digital services.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Steve Barclay, said: 'If we want people to continue to access their pensions online, social care support from local government or health services, we need to step up our cyber defences.
'The cyber threat is clear and growing. But government is acting - investing over £2bn in cyber, retiring legacy IT systems and stepping up our skills and coordination.'
Figures show the National Cyber Security Centre dealt with 777 incidents between September 2020 and August 2021, with around 40% aimed at the public sector.
Hackney Council was victim to a ‘serious cyber attack’ in 2020, which affected the council's IT systems and services and saw criminals publish data online.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council was facing costs of more than £10m following a ransomware attack in February 2020.
