General

A free online service which alerts organisations to potential cyber-attacks affecting their networks has been launched today by the country’s cyber security experts. The new Early Warning service, from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – a part of GCHQ – is designed to help organisations defend against cyber-attacks by providing timely notifications about possible incidents and security issues.

The free service automatically filters through trusted threat intelligence sources to offer specialised alerts for organisations so they can investigate malicious activity and take the necessary steps to protect themselves.

Organisations are being encouraged to sign up for Early Warning service, which has been launched following a successful trial with users representing a range of sectors.

One of the NCSC’s key roles is to be a point of support and contact for organisations reporting cyber incidents, and Early Warning is the latest Active Cyber Defence (ACD) service aimed at helping them improve their cyber resilience.

Subscribing to Early Warning comes with a number of unique benefits, including alerts based on an organisation’s network details and access to information feeds that are unavailable elsewhere. Organisations will receive different types of alert, covering possible network compromises; notification of how their assets have been associated with undesirable activity or about their networks running vulnerable services that may need updating.

The Early Warning service is designed to fit into an organisation’s wider defence strategy and to complement existing cyber security controls by adding another layer of defence. Further information and how to sign up to this free service is available HERE

The NCSC has also published a range of guidance to help organisations defend against cyber-attacks and boost overall resilience, including the 10 Steps to Cyber Security, and for smaller organisations, the Small Business Guide.