The chosen companies will receive mentoring from GCHQ over a nine-month period  Credit: Barry Batchelor/PA

The GCHQ Cyber Accelerator for security start-ups has lifted the lid on the nine firms chosen for its second cohort, including companies focused on cryptocurrency-based cybercrime and internet of things security.

The accelerator is jointly run by GCHQ, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and Wayra, an accelerator programme specialist owned by telecoms giant Telefónica.  The scheme, which is part of the government’s £1.9bn National Cyber Security programme, is intended to help UK security start-ups grow their business with the help of funding and access to GCHQ’s tech expertise. Each cohort has the chance to undertake a nine-month development programme.

This week the nine firms picked for the programme’s second intake were given the chance to showcase their wares at an event hosted at the NCSC headquarters in London. In attendance were representatives of all four organisations responsible for running the programme, as well as digital minister Matt Hancock.

The chosen companies are:

• Cybershield – technology that aims to combat phishing and spear phishing by preventing individuals from acting on malicious emails
• Elliptic – specialises in the detection of cybercrime focused on cryptocurrencies
• ExactTrak – a company that provides technology allowing users to view and control activity on their devices – even when they are switched off
• Intruder – monitoring technology that aims to detect flaws in internet-facing systems before hackers have the chance to
• Ioetec – a cloud platform for connecting IoT technology with encrypted security
• RazorSecure – transport sector-specialised intrusion and anomaly detection technology
• Secure Code Warrior – gamified teaching system for helping coders write more secure code
• Trust Elevate – technology focused on online age verification and parental consent processes
• Warden – real-time monitoring of suspicious activity

“Almost every part of our daily lives are connected to the internet, so it's essential the UK leads the way on cybersecurity, to fulfil our ambition of making Britain the safest place to in the world to be online,” Hancock said. “The GCHQ Cyber Accelerator programme is a great example of government, industry and tech start-ups coming together to benefit from the advice of world-class experts and tackle cybercrime."

Chris Ensor, NCSC deputy director for cyber skills and growth, added: “The Accelerator offers NCSC the opportunity to combine our insights into cyber risk and deep expertise, with agile companies offering exciting new ideas. Together, we believe we can provide new and novel solutions to the UK’s cybersecurity challenges.”