Caithness Company Leads The Way To A 'Cyber Strong' Region

15th March 2018

A Caithness engineering and design company has become the first to achieve national accreditation through the region's ‘Cyber Strong' initiative.

Thurso based Envision Engineering & Design has been awarded government backed Cyber Essentials certification. Envision's expert team provide product and engineering design services to clients in many industrial sectors from Nuclear, Oil & Gas, Hydro, Renewables to National Utilities.

The industry recognised award stringently tests the business's processes to protect its own and its client’s online assets. It mitigates online threats and reduces the risk of a cyber attack. Successful accreditation offers Envision a competitive edge and opens up opportunities to tender for contracts requiring Cyber Essentials suppliers - including Government contracts.

The business received help from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) through its 'Cyber Strong' project. This was launched just over six months ago to help HIE clients become more cyber resilient.

Liam Sutherland, Director at Envision said: "We’re delighted to have shown we have what it takes to be 'Cyber Strong' and to have achieved the Cyber Essentials certification. The Cyber Essentials badge gives our customers confidence that we have the right protection and tools to protect our systems and data."

To gain Cyber Essentials, Envision had to pass an external assessment. This considers all devices including: PCs, laptops, mobiles, and tablets, as well as internet-connected systems such as application servers, email and web, as laid out in the National Cyber Security Strategy.

Claire Farquhar, account manager at HIE, said: "We’ve been working with Envision over the past year, and are delighted they are the first in the region to successfully come through our 'Cyber Strong' programme. This accreditation offers their highly experienced and motivated team additional opportunities and demonstrates their commitment to online protection for their wide range of clients."

The 'Cyber Strong' project is one of around 20 across Scotland part-funded by the Scottish and UK governments through the National Cyber Security Strategy Programme.

Theresa Swayne of HIE’s digital team, commented: "The HIE ‘Cyber Strong’ project held 11 intensive cyber workshops across the region for around 140 businesses and groups. These offered cyber advice, and outlined the role of Cyber Essentials in protecting businesses from the most common cyber threats.

"Following on from this, 40 clients have had individual support from a digital adviser to develop a Cyber Resilience plan to prepare them for the Cyber Essentials accreditation process.

"We’re delighted to see Envision achieve Cyber Essentials, and look forward to seeing more Cyber Strong businesses successfully come through the programme. Cyber Strong is here to help HIE clients reduce the risks of cyber-attack and to ensure the region provides online services which their customers can have confidence in."