The Cabinet Office has spent £274,000 on cyber security training for staff in the most recent financial year.

Spending jumped by 483 per cent compared to the previous year, when only £47,000 was spent on cyber training.

The released data, obtained by the Parliament Street think thank under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, come days after leaked CCTV images unearthed an affair between the former health secretary Matt Hancock and his aide, ex-lobbyist Gina Coladangelo.

According to the FOI, 428 separate cyber training courses were booked in the financial year 2020-2021, compared to only 35 in the previous year.

The most popular course, which received 332 bookings, was for NCSP Foundation e-Learning – this course provides introductory level training on how to prevent, detect and respond to cyber-attacks.

The second most popular course was for a Foundation Certificate in Cyber Security, attended by 33 staffers.

Some other cyber training courses attended in FY 20-21 included training in ‘the art of hacking’, attended by 12; ‘digital forensics fundamentals’, attended by two; ‘ethical hacking’, attended by one.

Also, four staffers underwent training to become a certified Lead Auditor, and one joined a ‘CyberSec First Responder’ course.

"The Cabinet Office is tasked with managing some of the most sensitive data imaginable, so increasing cyber training and resources is a wise move, particularly with hackers relentlessly targeting government departments,” said Andy Harcup, senior director at Gigamon. “However, far too many public sector organisations continue to operate without full visibility into network traffic, making it harder to spot hostile threats and take action before the damage is done.”

Harcup added: “Large organisations with overstretched IT teams require complete visibility in order to manage complex cloud environments as well as identifying security threats to keep critical data safe, so taking action in this area must be a top priority.”

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