Mastercard has launched free cyber security training to UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the firm’s own research reveals over three million of them don’t use cyber security.
With SMEs being targeted by cyber criminals and many going out of business as a result, the card giant’s UK boss says financial services firms have a responsibility to pass knowledge to SMEs.
Over five million UK SMEs will have access to the resources through SME Academy: Cybersecurity, which Mastercard’s UK division president, Simon Forbes, said offers “short, practical, free modules on the threats owners face most, so they can protect their business and keep growing”.
The plan is to expand the programme to more than 10 million SMEs across Europe by 2030.
Quoting government figures, Forbes said cyber crime costs UK business more than £14bn a year, adding that small businesses often have the least protection.
“The payments and technology sector has spent decades learning how criminals operate, and with attacks in the UK more than doubling in a year, we have a responsibility to put that knowledge to work,” he told Computer Weekly.
In a recent SME report, Mastercard found that fewer than 39% of UK small businesses use basic cyber security tools such as antivirus software and firewalls.
Furthermore, according to data from the government’s Cyber security breaches survey 2025/26, 46% of SMEs were targeted by cyber criminals in a 12-month period, with nearly 18% going bankrupt following a cyber attack.
Mastercard’s SME Academy: Cybersecurity features modules on how to recognise increasingly sophisticated phishing attempts and how data breaches happen. It also provides learning on strengthening passwords and using multi-factor authentication, as well as managing employee and third-party access among other training.
Sonny Leong, minister for small business and enterprise, said: “We have so many innovative small businesses in this country, yet cyber crime remains one of the biggest threats to their success.
“Mastercard’s SME Academy is a very welcome initiative that will help businesses stay well ahead of criminals, working with industry leaders to help equip them with the tools and support they need to thrive and grow our economy.”
Forbes at Mastercard added: “Every small business starts with a dream, but cyber security risks can quickly turn it into a nightmare. Nearly 20% of small businesses don’t survive a cyber attack. Keeping pace with constantly evolving technology and threats is difficult, particularly when time and resources are stretched. Our SME Academy offers clear, practical advice to help business owners take steps today to protect the dream they’ve worked so hard to build.”
In a sign of increasing threats, earlier this week, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, warned the UK will face AI-powered attacks from nation-states and criminal groups targeting critical national infrastructure in the next two years.
The use of AI by hostile states and crime groups is expected to increase the scale and speed of ransomware attacks, social engineering and the exploitation of vulnerabilities.
The NCSC said Russia and China will routinely use AI-powered cyber tools to achieve their geopolitical goals.
