NCC : welcomes the UK NCSC annual review

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has released its annual review for 2021, summarising the key threats facing today's society, and outlining the organisation's achievements over the last year.

The report outlines three key threats that the UK has faced over the last 12 months. This includes:

• Cyber criminals exploiting the pandemic as an opportunity, for example by shifting their operations to target vaccine and medical research
• An increasing number of attacks targeting the supply chains of organisations
• The rising threat of ransomware, including the popularity of off-the-shelf malware variants, known as Ransomware-as-a-Service

In addition to showcasing the NCSC's work to safeguard the UK and international partners from the threat of ransomware, the review outlines the importance of the private sector in keeping organisations and individuals in the UK and beyond safer and more secure. The UK Government's National Cyber Strategy, which is set to be released later this year, will take a whole-of-society approach to cyber security, outlining how government, industry and the public can work together to build cyber resilience, and allow everyone to reap the benefits of emerging technologies in the future.

Ollie Whitehouse, global CTO at NCC Group, said: "Since its inception, the NCSC has worked closely with international partners and institutions to share information, capabilities and boost skills. The Centre plays a crucial role in the UK's resilience ecosystem and helps to drive forward the UK's cyber ambitions through its international influence.

"It's important that this global collaboration and information-sharing continues in order to truly boost resilience on a global scale. Private and public sector partnerships can go a long way towards increasing broader awareness of and addressing today's threats, and allowing them to be mitigated successfully. NCC Group has been proud to support and partner with the NCSC from the outset and we're keen to see further changes to allow ever more effective partnership working in the future.

"We have already seen concrete steps in this direction - for example, a range of cyber security organisations, including NCC Group, are working with the government to reform the outdated Computer Misuse Act. 13 government bodies also now have vulnerability disclosure programmes in place, and this has led to the remediation of 400 vulnerabilities - highlighting the tangible, real-world impact that security research and collaboration can have."