Welcome to the newly established National Cyber Security Centre by GCHQ.
What is our purpose? In recent years, GCHQ has made significant strides in the realm of cyber security. Collaborating with colleagues across the intelligence community, law enforcement, various governmental bodies, international partners, and the essential private sector, we have heightened awareness of cyber threats, developed our capabilities to detect and thwart severe cyber incidents, and guided individuals and organizations towards reliable cyber security advice, guidance, and services.
However, it is challenging to assert that we, as a nation, are staying ahead of the cyber threat landscape. Being the most digitally advanced economy in the G7 is advantageous, yet a concerning number of minor cyber attacks persistently penetrate our defenses. If we do not bolster our efforts, this could evolve into a significant risk to our safety and prosperity.
On one end of the spectrum, most of our essential services are now internet-connected—some visibly so, others subtly so. This connectivity benefits everyone by making services more dynamic, cost-effective, and responsive. However, it also introduces vulnerabilities. The NCSC is dedicated to collaborating with service and system owners to enhance their safety and resilience.
Conversely, the other end of the spectrum is equally important. Conversations with small businesses and individuals who have suffered from cyber attacks reveal the devastating impact of such incidents. For a small business with a hundred customers, losing sensitive data, enduring several days of operational downtime, or facing a substantial ransom demand can have dire consequences for their business and personal life.
Many of these attacks lack sophistication, and while not all are highly technical, they can still be damaging. The NCSC cannot respond to every single incident. However, we can provide effective guidance and collaborate with our skilled technologists to devise new protective measures that will help secure UK businesses and citizens automatically.
We consolidate expertise from CESG (GCHQ’s information assurance branch), cyber components of the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, CERT-UK, and the Centre for Cyber Assessment to deliver a centralized resource for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), larger corporations, government agencies, and departments.
Our advice is straightforward. Explore what the NCSC shares and identify the aspects most pertinent to you. Then prioritize establishing essential practices. Although it’s impossible to defend against every potential attack, determining what is most valuable to you, securing it appropriately, monitoring it vigilantly, and implementing basic protective measures will make it more challenging for attackers to breach your defenses. This effort is crucial.
GCHQ, our parent organization, remains committed to defending the UK round the clock against significant global threats, hostile nations, and organized criminal syndicates.
We pledge to you—the taxpayer funding our initiatives—that we will strive diligently every day in support of this critical mission. Our aim is to partner with you in making the UK the safest environment for living and conducting business online. Thank you for your engagement with us.
Ciaran Martin
CEO of the NCSC
Article has been taken from ncsc.gov.uk: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/ciaran
