We are at war.

When first elected as Cornwall councillor for Saltash Trematon and Landrake division in May 2021, I was asked in the first week to send a list of my skill sets that could help Cornwall Council and our approximately 570,000 residents. I advised that I had been involved in business and technology for most of my previous 40 year career.

I was chosen by our council leader Linda Taylor, to take up additional roles whilst also serving the 5,500 residents in my own division. The first task for me was to assume the role of joint-chairman of the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee. This has proved to be the greatest and most complex business challenge I have ever faced. It is a subject over the coming months, before the next election in May 25, that I will explore in more detail in future columns.

With the Tamar 2050 plan, I do believe we now have the best chance in 60-plus years, by working together with our MPs and government to share in the funding for the safe and secure future of the crossings. This is to find the way to move to Open Road Tolling, agree RPI and provide cheaper tolls for locals and business, and eventually find support for no tolls.

Today however, in my Cornwall cabinet role for customer and digital inclusion, I want to highlight the daily threats we all face from cyber security. Foreign criminals and hackers threaten our systems through thousands of daily attacks to obtain money and secrets. They are hoping to challenge us to place ransomware and bugs that could close our networks down for days or weeks, upsetting critical services like benefits, social care and elections.

We have recently received a letter from MP Jim McMahon, OBE, minister of state for local government and English devolution. This highlights the challenges of cyber security and the launch of the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for local government. I’m now engaged with our security teams ensuring that we are following the guidelines and investing in our defences for Cornwall. Sometimes you might look at our service challenges and ask why we didn’t fix everything immediately.

Those teams are prioritising, doing the best they can with reducing budgets, but also spare a thought for those teams and systems you can’t see, working away 24/7/365 to keep us safe from those criminals who are out to attack Cornwall Council and yourselves. In your own life online, do follow the advice from the National Cyber Security Centre which you can see here at www.ncsc.gov.uk for you, your family and business. Stay cybersafe everyone.

Martin Worth

Cornwall councillor for Saltash Trematon and Landrake Division