Member

100: After Clause 42, insert the following new Clause— “National cyber security support service for small and medium-sized enterprises (1) The Secretary of State must, by regulations, make provision for the establishment and operation of a national cyber security support and incident response service for relevant small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for the purpose of improving the security and resilience of their network and information systems.(2) The service established under this section must—(a) be free at the point of use, and(b) provide, in particular following a cyber incident affecting a relevant SME—(i) advice and technical assistance,(ii) incident response support, and(iii) guidance on recovery and remediation.(3) For the purposes of this section, a relevant SME is a small or medium-sized enterprise which is—(a) an operator of an essential service,(b) a relevant digital service provider,(c) a relevant managed service provider, or(d) a critical supplier,within the meaning of the NIS Regulations.(4) In establishing and operating the service the Secretary of State must have regard to comparable national cyber security support services operated in other jurisdictions.” Member's explanatory statement This new clause would require the Secretary of State to establish a national, free-at-the-point-of-use cyber security support and incident response service for relevant SMEs, modelled on comparable overseas services such as the small-business support provided by the Australian Cyber Security Centre.