Cisco UK & Ireland

Our 2019 Security Benchmark study revealed that 32% of UK businesses have experienced a data breach in the last 12 months. That’s almost a third of all enterprises in this country. In addition, on average, 29% of UK companies reported that systems were down for up to 8 hours when hit with their most severe data breach - a worrying thought for companies reliant on the Internet to keep their businesses running.

In this context, it’s clear that prosperity and innovation in the UK depends upon a strong cyber defence.

So that’s what we’re doing.

We’re combining our technology with industry-leading global intelligence and our focus on cyber skills to help make the UK the safest place on earth to be online.

And we’re not in this fight alone. That’s why we’re focusing on digital skills through our Networking Academy – so the people who use the internet in the UK can become part of its defence. 

We also work with a wide range of public and private sector partners.

Our partners include the country’s leading security experts, from the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre, to GCHQ and the Internet Watch Foundation.

Interestingly, in 2019, 30% of CISOs claimed to suffer from cyber fatigue (giving up trying to stay ahead of malicious threats). Although this figure is still far too high, it represents a significant drop from last year’s standing of 46%. Businesses are increasing investments into security too, with 52% of UK companies stating that they’ve increased security awareness among employees, and 47% have increased investment into security defence technologies in the last 12 months.

Things are moving in the right direction – and this is worth the fight.

Ultimately, we know that strong cybersecurity fosters the development of digital business models and, most importantly, will help to fuel growth for the UK.

That’s why we’re committed to improving the country’s resilience, skills, awareness and ability to keep everyone safe.

Talos is a threat intelligence and security organisation that monitors the threat landscape across the globe. It consists of 350 full time threat analysts with high-level expertise in threat intelligence and malware analysis. The always-on team search around the clock for the latest threats with unparalleled visibility about what is occurring in the threat landscape using telemetry. They transform this visibility into intelligence to provide a collective response and solution for organisations globally - because cybercrime doesn't care about national barriers. Cisco have partnerships with both the private and the public sector, protecting the internet as whole.

https://www.talosintelligence.com

The UK is facing a digital skills gap, costing our economy an estimated £63 billion a year in potential GDP.

This isn’t an issue of age, discipline or postcode. It’s about the skills we have as individuals. We need these skills to help UK businesses prosper. So what can we do as a nation to ensure that they are supported?

The education system alone cannot be expected to keep up with the increasing skills gap. And the issue extends beyond education: we need to be skilling and reskilling people of all ages, so that they are constantly learning as the landscape develops.

If we, as technology leaders and future employers, partner with government and education to address the opportunity now, we will ensure that the UK cements its place as a digital leader.

That is why we run, support and fund a number of initiatives as part of a mission to make the UK amongst the most technically advanced and highly skilled countries. It is also why we committed to train an additional 250,000 people in the UK by 2020.

As the world changes all around us, acquiring technical skills is what brings opportunity and the promise of education is what offers hope. Who will teach and nurture these world changers of tomorrow, these global problem solvers?

We will. Together with our education, instructor, training and employment partners we’ve made a commitment to developing the workforce of the future.

Read our commitment.

We know that the best ideas are yet to be imagined, and our digital future will be built by a diverse set of thinkers. We work with the next generation in a number of ways: through our Pathways to Your Future programme, apprenticeships, internships and our graduate scheme.

Our Pathway to Your Future programme enables students and young people to gain work experience with Cisco. It covers a variety of technical and non-technical work-streams, so participants can experience the full variety of roles in the technology industry. They spend time shadowing Cisco employees to see first-hand what it’s like to work in the IT industry.

There’s the Little Big Futures programme for 11-14 year olds, which offers one-hour lessons and five-hour challenges across the STEM subjects and STEM clubs. We also have a work experience programme run for 14-16 year olds and the Girls Power Tech programme for young women aged 16-18.

And Pathway to Your Future has made a real impact: 91% of students stated that it made them aware of different career opportunities in the IT industry and helped them feel better prepared for the world of work.

We’re also very proud of our apprenticeship programme. Cisco apprenticeships vary in length from one to three years, and give participants a chance to explore a specific technology or work with specific teams – all while receiving applicable Cisco certifications via classroom training or through a local university to achieve degree qualifications. We’re extremely proud that our apprentice intake is 50% female, with people of varying levels of experience who all have a passion for the industry.

Read more here:  https://www.cisco.com/c/en_uk/about/our-programmes.html

At Cisco, we want to connect everything. And that means people too.

We understand the power of human connection and its potential to make a difference in our world. That’s why we empower our people to play a positive role in UK society.

This starts with modelling the right values within our own organisation. It’s all part of our People Deal, which outlines our commitment to support each other and work together to create shared success that will benefit everyone.

In addition to team volunteering, we provide each employee in the UK with five days paid ‘Time to Give’. In the last year alone, Cisco employees in the UK volunteered over 25,000 hours for their chosen charities, with employee donations and Cisco matching in the UK reaching over $500,000.    

Pay parity is also a big part of this. At Cisco, this means we pay our people fairly – regardless of gender – based on roles, location, prior work experience, performance and other business relevant factors. We’ve now completed two cycles of global pay review including in the UK, both of which revealed a healthy and fair pay practice. 

These practices led to Cisco UK being awarded 2nd place in the UK’s Best Workplaces – Large Category in 2019. We’re incredibly proud to now be a Laureate of the Best Workplaces awards.

We connect the brightest people so they can make the UK a better place – and have fun along the way.