STEPHEN Metcalfe, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, attended a reception in Parliament hosted by cyber security expert NCC Group, to discuss the importance of cyber security and how to stay safe online.

NCC Group is a trusted advisor to more than 15,000 clients worldwide and provides cyber security and risk mitigation services to critical national infrastructure suppliers, as well as Government departments.

It also provided the cyber expertise for the recent Channel 4 programme Hunted, in which a group of volunteer “fugitives” went on the run to explore themes of online privacy and security.

Following the publication of the Government’s own cyber security strategy, Mr Metcalfe was given a demonstration of the work NCC Group currently carries out. He also discussed the present cyber landscape and the current challenges facing central and local government in keeping the public safe.

As part of the event, NCC Group conducted an ‘open source intelligence’ demonstration and its team of experts were able to provide a profile of a number of the attendees by collating and triangulating information that was in the public domain. This is often the first step for cyber criminals to target individuals in phishing emails.

Mr Metcalfe said: “It was really interesting to see the NCC Group team demonstrate the techniques which they employ on a daily basis in order to create a safer cyber environment. I personally found it very insightful and a real eye-opener and I encourage all my constituents to learn more about the precautions they can take to become cyber security aware in order to make themselves safer online.

“I look forward to working with NCC Group in in the future in looking at what more can be done to promote cyber security awareness locally and across the UK as a whole.”

Ollie Whitehouse, Technical Director at NCC Group, said: “I’d like to thank Stephen, a real ambassador in championing the importance of staying safe online, for coming to speak with us in Parliament about the challenges posed by cyber crime to people across South Basildon and East Thurrock.

“I’m glad they found the demonstrations useful and I would encourage others to read more about the work we do at NCC Group on our website.”