On day 1 of CyberUK, Sapphire CEO, Ian Thomas, calls for the NCSC to be given the remit it deserves as our best hope in driving the UK’s cybersecurity agenda.

"The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is facing a critical challenge. While they're doing commendable work, we consistently see its potential being constantly held back due to a lack of robust support from central government. 

The UK has rightly gained international recognition as a leading voice on emerging technologies and cybersecurity, but there is a real risk that our dominance in this area starts to slip. The NCSC, which should be the institution we look to for spearheading significant change, is not receiving the necessary backing from UK government, who risk prioritising private business goals over the protection of our society in stark contrast to the efforts and achievements of other nations today.

The NCSC needs more than just hollow words of support and must be given a broader mandate and further funding to drive cybersecurity regulations and practical assistance. Initiatives like the Cyber Essentials programme have made a real difference but need to keep pace with the constantly evolving threat from organised crime and nation state attacks. Initiatives like Protected DNS services are too limited in their reach and only benefit public sector entities. We need to extend these types of initiative to all sectors, alongside driving new initiatives around supply chain assurance and operational technologies to support our manufacturing and the wider UK plc.

Our nation prides itself on being a country of small business, therefore we need to ensure continued support to the NCSC’s Active Cyber Defence initiatives that benefit UK plc as a whole. It needs to be made clear that although stricter regulations can cause added spending, the financial implications of a cyberattack will be much larger than the pressures of compliance. 

All too often, we see ransomware and data exfiltration negatively impacting our companies, our competitiveness, and our citizens, with millions being lost to criminal organisations every year. 

We cannot wait until after the impending general election to boost support for the NCSC. The UK must realise that cybersecurity is an issue that affects both private and public sectors and transcends political divides. Every individual and business in the UK deserves to be protected, and we should utilise the NCSC, giving them more funding and a broader mandate, as the means to delivering this end goal.”