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After months of hard work, Peterborough Diocese has been awarded Cyber Essential Accreditation demonstrating its commitment to protect the data in its care and guard the organisation against cyber attack.
Our world now revolves around the information we hold on our computers, and the Church is definitely not immune to the threat that the digital environment poses. Sadly the majority of all email traffic worldwide is malicious, either directly attempting to steal data and passwords, or attempting to gain access to machines. As an organisation we are committed to making sure our staff have the training and systems in place to counter this threat and keep our information safe.
Sue Ratcliffe, Assistant Diocesan Secretary, who project managed the Cyber Essentials application, alongside our IT Managed Service Provider, says ‘the speed of advancement of the digital world has increased hugely over recent years, not least during the pandemic, when so much was placed online rapidly to aid collaborative working in different locations. We must keep pace with these developments and ensure that we are a safe place for the data that is entrusted to us.’
The work to put our systems on a secure footing has been an endeavour for our teams who would rather focus on their core work of mission. Sue continued; ‘It’s not top of most people’s fun list to focus on data, but it is vitally important. I am grateful to all the teams in the Diocesan Board of Finance, the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Office who have worked hard to ensure that we are able to put the protections in place. Digital transformation is a journey that we are all on, but together we can build a safe, secure environment which will enable our work of mission to thrive’.
Cyber Essentials is Government backed scheme which has been designed to help protect all organisations, no matter what size they are, or what their IT resources are to protect themselves against a whole range of the most common cyber attached. For more information about the Cyber Essentials Scheme see the National Cyber Security Centre website.