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Local businesses are being offered free training and grants to enhance their cyber security.

Salford City Council says the move will support businesses which may have missed out on government funding during lockdowns.

It believes its the only local council in the country to use government business support grants in this way after recognising the increasing importance of digitalisation and online trading.

Councillor Bill Hinds, lead member for financial and support services, said: The trend towards buying goods and services online has accelerated because of the pandemic and we want Salford businesses to make the most of that.

Keeping customer details safe and taking payments online is a huge challenge for some small and independent businesses so we decided to use this funding in a unique way. As a leader in cyber security, were proud to share our skills and take an innovative approach to distributing business grants which also brings social value to the city.

Id urge any small to medium sized business, freelance worker or self-employed trader to get in touch to see if they qualify. Places are limited so they need to sign up as soon as possible. We want to make sure we help every business we can.

The money came from the councils bid for Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Top Up funding to help businesses severely affected by COVID-19.

Funding is available to support 100 SMEs and 200 freelance and self-employed home-based businesses. The courses are being delivered by HOST Salford in partnership with Salford City Council.

The Cyber SME course is a free two-day cyber training course for established Salford small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) whose business involves online trading. It combines advanced awareness with hands-on, real-life technical scenarios. Participants will benefit from a 2,500 grant on successful completion of the course to enhance the cyber security in their business through buying new hardware, software, or licenses for security products.

The Cyber Workforce course is a free one-day course for established business owners, self-employed people and freelancers in Salford whose business currently involves, or plans to implement online trading. It provides everything they need to know about keeping their businesses safe online. Participants will benefit from a 1,000 grant on successful completion of the course to enhance the cyber security in their business through buying new hardware, software, or licenses for security products.

Both courses run until March 2022. Limited spaces available. To learn more please visit the HOST website.

This initiative forms part of Cyber Salford, an ambition to create the most cyber enabled city in the UK. It was recently launched at HOST (Home of Skills and Technology) Salford in collaboration with Salford City Council, Cyber Resilience Centre and Raytheon Technologies to provide individuals and businesses with education, training, tools and business space to boost cyber security awareness, innovation and careers.

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Salford leads the way in helping business fight cyber crime Salford City Council - Salford City Council