Britain’s biggest 350 firms are being urged to take part in free Cyber Health Checks that are being launched by the government today.

Firms who take up the opportunity will be given a confidential, tailored report so that they can see boardroom trends, make comparisons with their peers, and tackle weaknesses that are identified.

The initiative, the third time firms have been offered the annual digital hygiene checkup, was launched by digital economy minister Ed Vaizey at the Intel Security summit.

He said:"With more and more of our daily transactions done online, keeping our personal data safe is a top priority for this Government. Our Cyber Health Check will help the UK’s biggest firms strengthen their cyber security and ensure they continue to thrive in our growing digital economy."

The health check will produce aggregated data, revealing how will well the UK’s top firms are performing in terms of cyber security, with the results published early in 2016.

The announcement comes the day after Chancellor George Osborne announced a doubling a of Britain’s cyber security budget, and said Britain would launch cyber attacks against ISIS.