The Cyber Helpline has today announced its participation in a major fundraiser, the Infostep 2021 Challenge. This ambitious initiative will raise £50,000 over the next 6 months by a team of 25 cyber security professionals walking 19,000 miles, or about 42,212,000 steps. This equates to walking from London to Sydney, and then back again.

Proceeds from the Infostep 2021 Challenge will go to The Cyber Helpline, which provides UK’s victims of cybercrime with free emergency assistance, and the Innocent Lives Foundation, which works with law enforcement in the USA to protect child safety.

With the world moving ever-more digital in the wake of the pandemic, cybercrime has been on the rise. The Cyber Helpline has seen a 375% year-on-year increase in cases, with victims suffering from cyberstalking, hacked accounts, online harassment, sextortion, stolen cryptocurrency, and more. There is a major gap in victim support in the UK for those dealing with the technological fallout, emotional distress, and financial hardship from these attacks. This is a gap that The Cyber Helpline is looking to fill.

The Infostep 2021 Challenge has been so well received in the cyber security community and beyond, that the participants have set a very ambitious fundraising target. This will raise vital funds for The Cyber Helpline, which is run with the help of 80 volunteers from the cyber security industry and powered by a 24/7 artificial intelligence chatbot. Extra funding will enable The Cyber Helpline to bring on its first paid staff to manage helpline responders, cover the costs of bringing on more volunteers, and contribute to the costs of running the chatbot.

This will mean that The Cyber Helpline can extend its assistance to yet more victims across the UK and beyond. The service helps individuals understand, contain, recover and learn from cyberattacks by linking them with security experts who provide relevant advice and guidance.

“Our vision is to ensure the UK is a place where cybercriminals do not win and our mission is to ensure everyone in the UK has immediate access to expert, cybersecurity help when they need it,” said Nikki Webb, Head of Marketing for The Cyber Helpline. “Infostep 2021 is an amazing initiative and we are so grateful to be chosen as recipients of some of the funds raised. I am looking forward to participating in the challenge personally and I am grateful for all the support and donations that we are receiving.”

Infostep participants are also allocating some of the funds raised to help train resources for newcomers who are trying to upskill so they can break into the cyber security industry.

How can people and organisations support the Infosteps 2021 Challenge?

• Donate money at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/infostep

• Share the word on social media with the hashtag #infosteps2021

• Join in with a personal or work-placed challenge to raise further funds

• Purchase branded merchandise at www.thecyberhelpline.com

Infostep Challenge consists of Nikki Webb, Global Channel Manager for Custodian 360 and Head of Marketing for The Cyber Helpline; Amy Stokes-Waters, Senior Account Manager for Cognisys, Tom Quinn, Group IT Security Services Manager for National Express, Jonathan Younie, CISO for Ramsey Quantitative Systems, Inc. and Innocent Lives Foundation Ambassador, as well as Dan Conn, Senior Software Engineer for Mimecast; Scott Winchester, Owner of Hax_Shax; Sean Atkinson, Director of Security Assurance at Secarma; Regina Bluman, Security Analyst at Algolia; Sarah Armstrong-Smith, Chief Security Advisor at Microsoft; Tash Norris, Head of Cyber Security at Moonpig; Paul Taylor, Cyber Consultancy at ITC Secure; Ryan Surry, Director at Intaso; Siân Salmons, Trainee Cyber Security Consultant at CAPSLOCK; Cytisus E., Senior Security Engineer at Macys; Lisa Forte, Partner at Red Goat Cyber Security; Natasha Harley, Co-Founder at cyberxperts; Rosie Anderson, Head of Sales at Honeypot Digital; Rob Croxford, Network Security Consultant; Phillip L., Head of Sector at ITC Secure; Adrian Tayor, Transformation Consultant at Deloitte UK; Rob Newby, Founder at Procordr; Ste Watts, Group Head of Cyber Security Operations at Aldermore Bank; Lorna Armitage, Co-Founder at CAPSLOCK; Dan Komenda, Trainee Cyber Security Consultant at CAPSLOCK; Laura Wellstead, Co-Founder of cyberxperts, Alex Martin, Senior Business Development Manager at Cognisys, and Peter Jones, Owner at CyberBadger.