Merthyr Tydfil Council achieves cyber security accreditations

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council is pleased to be the first Local Authority in Wales to achieve ‘Cyber Essentials Plus’ certification and ‘IASME Governance Standard (Gold Award)’ via a Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) funded-project. Both certifications help organisations to guard against the most common cyber threats and demonstrate their commitment to cyber security and demonstrate that they are taking good steps to properly protect their customers information. In 2018 a Concordat between Welsh Ministers and the WLGA which set out agreed measures to strengthen the resilience and security of Local Authorities in Wales against cyber threats was put in place, and Welsh Government made grant funding available via the WLGA for each local authority to achieve Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

Deputy Chief Executive, Ellis Cooper, said, “Improving cyber resilience and security is a critical corporate priority for us in order to protect our resident’s data. Achieving the certification allows us to demonstrate to both Members and public the level of cyber security measures we have put in place, in order to keep our organisation safe”.

Corporate Information Security Officer, Ryan James, said, “Achieving the certification brings benefits to the organisation and reassures residents and business partners that cyber security is being taken seriously and that we are working to secure our IT against a cyber-attack. The cyber threat is a UK Tier One risk with major consequences for organisations and the people they serve, by adopting cyber security measures we are putting controls in place to prevent or reduce the impact of an attack”.