L’Oréal UK and Ireland has been named as a national ambassador for the National Cyber Resilience Centre Group (NCRCG), with the aim of helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within beauty improve their cyber defences.
The NCRCG is a collaboration between the Home Office, policing, academia and business partners aimed at improving cyber resilience across the UK’s SME sector.
It works alongside nine regional, police-led Cyber Resilience Centres (CRCs), which provide free advice and guidance to help SMEs strengthen their cyber defences.
Jason O’Hare, chief information security officer for L’Oréal Northern Europe, said the initiative would support smaller firms that often lack the resources of large corporations.
“While large companies like ours invest heavily in technology to enhance productivity as well as protect our business, it is often much more of a challenge for small and medium-sized companies,” he said.
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“As part of our role as National Ambassador, we will be working with NCRCG to raise awareness of cyber resilience amongst our SME customers and suppliers and pointing them towards the support offered by the CRC network.”
Alan Greig, interim chief executive of NCRCG, said the appointment would help broaden the organisation’s reach into the beauty and cosmetics sector.
“Our ambition at NCRCG is to build an Ambassador programme that represents a broad range of sectors, ensuring we can benefit from key insights from within these sectors and, importantly spread our message of cyber resilience across them,” he said.
According to NCRCG, more than 23,500 SMEs have registered across the CRC network to date, and over 100 students have taken part in Cyber PATH, a scheme providing practical cybersecurity experience.
