An extra £248,000 will be available to local authorities across Wales to help strengthen their cyber resilience in response to the coronavirus crisis.

To help to maintain high standards of cyber security during this particularly challenging time, the Welsh Government has brought forward its cyber funding plans to support local authorities.

Each local authority in Wales will receive an initial grant of £9,000 to help address their priority needs, with the option to apply for additional money from a £50,000 reserve fund.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said:

Cyber security is vitally important as we all make the most of digital services during these challenging times. Sadly, there are people who will try to exploit this crisis.

The funding I am announcing today will help provide additional resilience within local authority IT systems in response to the increase in cybercrime during the COVID-19 crisis. This is the latest  in a series of improvement measures we are taking to help ensure that Wales continues to be a cyber-secure nation.