Leveraging NCSC’s national insight to strengthen the fight against mobile threats

Any business that uses mobile devices has a duty to its customers, employees, and partners to ensure they’re protected against cyber threats. A mobile phishing attack can lead to unauthorised access to data and online accounts. Risks include malware (such as spyware, keyloggers or banking trojans), and social engineering attacks. This can then lead to ransomware, data loss, fines and loss of reputation.

Traced’s mobile security solution was developed specifically to make securing mobile devices easier and more effective for consumers and businesses. Traced aims to take the onus off users to prevent cyber attacks that can compromise their personal information and business networks.

As part of the NCSC For Startups programme, Traced had access to expertise and data from the NCSC about the mobile threats they’re seeing at a national level. This provided insights to help them further shape Traced’s existing product development. Furthermore, Traced were able to discuss the business challenges around mobile security with NCSC staff, using their knowledge of the space to navigate these complex topics. This enabled Traced to focus on the key mobile risks to business, and to evolve their technology to address them.

As part of their Trustd Mobile Threat Defence (MTD) solution, the Traced team have aligned some aspects of their technical controls to the Cyber Essentials requirements. It helps IT administrators (and managers with less technical experience) by notifying when employee's devices (that can access organisational data) do not meet the aligned controls. The comprehensive reports explain how and why the devices are not compliant.

"Employees are increasingly reliant on personal devices for work. And given the increased popularity of bring your own device (BYOD), mobile threats are not just a danger to device owners, but to the businesses they work for" explains founder Benedict Jones. "We were able to discuss the rise in importance of business mobile security directly with the NCSC For Startups team and will continue to maintain alignment of our solution to the relevant aspects of the Cyber Essentials criteria. This product fit, which was stimulated by the NCSC support, means we can help businesses to easily identify Cyber Essentials issues with their mobiles – even BYOD – directly through the Trustd MTD platform.

"This is as much about providing user education as it is developing technology-based solutions, like an AI-powered phishing and malware detection engine, both of which are crucial in tackling the growing threat from mobile-borne attacks.

"The NCSC’s mission of 'making the UK the safest place to live and work online' really struck a chord with us. Its mission – to protect SMEs and citizens from cyber threats – aligns with ours, so we were keen to apply to the NCSC For Startups programme. If the UK is to remain a leading responsible and democratic cyber power in 2030, as outlined by the National Cyber Strategy, Traced must work with other British companies to ensure we address the risks from cyber attack."

If your startup is interested in accessing the expertise available by joining the NCSC For Startups programme, you can learn more about our latest challenges on the website, and get in touch.

Gill H
Cyber Innovation Communications Lead, NCSC