Innovative cyber ideas chosen to benefit from NCSC Accelerator programme

20 Nov 2018 01:29 PM

The NCSC's Cyber Accelerator programme has announced the companies making up its third cohort.

• National Cyber Security Centre to help private businesses develop “new and exciting ideas”
• Companies’ successful proposals showcased at launch event in NCSC’s London HQ in Nova South
• Start-ups to receive £25,000 grant and support from GCHQ experts during nine-month programme

Groundbreaking initiatives to improve the UK’s cyber security have been showcased by start-ups selected in a highly competitive GCHQ process.

Six innovative start-ups have been invited to join the Cyber Accelerator programme, which is run by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre. As well as receiving a £25,000 grant, the start-ups will receive invaluable support from the UK’s leading cyber security experts for the nine months they are involved in the programme.

The successful bidders each proposed pioneering ideas that will benefit both home users and businesses, with projects ranging from helping parents safeguard what their children are exposed to on the internet to a programme that helps to better manage individual digital identities.

This is the third Cyber Accelerator cohort, and the six wide-ranging ideas were each demonstrated at an launch event in the NCSC’s London headquarters of Nova South recently (19 November).

Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Skills and Growth, yesterday said:

“From our previous two editions of the Cyber Accelerator programme we’ve learnt that, when provided with the right platform, young start-ups can really develop at a fast pace.

“The selected companies are all operating within areas of cyber security where new products are needed, and they are all offering new and exciting ideas about how to address these issues.”

The Cyber Accelerator is a collaboration between the NCSC, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), GCHQ and Wayra UK, part of Telefónica Open Future. 

The focus of the programme is to support and enable the start-ups to bring to market new products that are ‘better, faster and cheaper’ than existing cyber security products, encouraging new skills, jobs and growth.

Part of the UK Government’s £1.9bn National Cyber Security Strategy, the Accelerator drives innovation in the cyber security sector by giving selected start-ups and entrepreneurs access to the world-class personnel and technological expertise at the NCSC and GCHQ, as well as the Telefónica global business network.

Digital Minister Margot James yesterday said: 

"The UK is leading the way on cyber security to ensure we are the safest place in the world to be online and best place to start a digital business.

“The Cyber Accelerator programme is giving our innovative companies access to world class experts in Government and industry to help them tackle the most pressing cyber threats."

Gary Stewart, Director at Wayra UK and Telefónica Open Future_ (UK), yesterday said:

“The Cyber Accelerator programme is best-in-class globally. Each cohort has only gotten better and better with entrepreneurs applying from all over the world, including the US and Israel.

“Our last cohort, for example, pretty much swept the cyber component of the Duke of York’s Pitch-@-Palace initiative, and one of them raised $3.5 million from Paladin Capital Group, a US venture-capitalist firm with more than $1 billion under management that is also our investor in residence. 

“We expect the current cohort to do even better.”

The start-ups in the latest cohort are:

• Haandle: A box that plugs into your home router to restrict any device's access to the internet with time based rules. It's primarily aimed at parents who want to manage their children's access.
• Barac Ltd: Barac has developed the technology to detect cyber attacks on normal and encrypted traffic in real time.
• IHackLabs: A new advanced and pragmatic approach to cyber security training and unique platforms to grow and develop the cybersecurity talent.
• Configured Things: Provides three key components to build digital transformation on top of available automation and virtualisation platforms.
• LuJam: Small and mid-sized businesses need similar levels of cyber security to that enjoyed by major enterprises but delivered in a way that is easy for a business owner or manager to use, without having to be an IT specialist.
• Nettoken: Helps you find and keep track of every online account or subscription you have signed up to – anything that requires a login – in one place. It also provides you with useful information on them and their related activity, which you can easily find and manage from one single place.