HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has spent £262,251 on cybersecurity training for its staff over the past two financial years.
According to official figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Parliament Street think tank, £111,795 was spent by the UK’s tax authority in the most recent financial year (2020-2021), equating to 80 training enrolments.
In comparison £150,457 had been invested in 2019-20 with 69 training enrolments.
The most popular security training course was to become certified in the Art of Hacking, involving 12 attendees and costing a total of £15,978.
The most expensive security training course in FY 20-21 was a course to become a Certified Cloud Security Professional, attracting 11 members of staff.
Nine employees took part in the Introduction to Cybersecurity course, whilst just two trained to become certified in Ethical Hacking.
Edward Blake, area vice president EMEA, Absolute Software, commenting on the data to Infosecurity Magazine, said:
“Organizations which handle large volumes of personal financial information like HMRC are a top target for cyber-criminals, so ensuring staff are fully trained with the latest cyber-skills is essential to prevent a potential data breach.”
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