NCSC Annual Review 2023
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Ministerial Foreword
We live in a dangerous, volatile world. The events of the last year have demonstrated the extent to which geopolitical crises and technological change impact us all, threatening not just our traditional security but our economic security.
The new frontline is online. As this Annual Review shows, the methods of attack are proliferating. The number of hostile state and non-state actors with access to such tools is growing. The ways in which these countries, organisations and individuals can do us harm – from bots undermining our democracy, to hacks disrupting our public services, to ransomware attacking our businesses – is expanding. The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the pace of change, compounding the threats and lowering the barrier to entry. As a result, the cyber world is a more dangerous place than ever before, and cyber security is rising up our risk register.
The government treats cyber security with the same urgency and importance as we treat our traditional defences. The National Cyber Security Centre is on that frontline, building and maintaining our resilience in the face of a rapidly expanding array of threats. Indeed, this year’s Annual Review demonstrates how the NCSC continues to lead the way, producing expert analysis of new technologies and emerging risks and opportunities. This technical expertise underpins our collective efforts to tackle threats from malicious cyber actors, and demonstrates the NCSC’s world-class advisory function.
Given the pace of change, it is vital that we get ahead of these fast-developing technologies to ensure the right mitigations are in place before the risks emerge. That is why the UK hosted the first ever AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in November 2023. Through that summit we started to spearhead a new form of multilateralism, one that brings together countries, companies, academics and other experts in the field. Because it is only by working together that we will make AI safe for everyone.
That same approach is needed towards cyber security more broadly. We need a whole of society approach, where government and industry work in partnership - to defend as one - to make us all more resilient as a nation. And those who can must work to shift the burden away from end users and increase protections for all of us, as we increasingly live our lives and do our work in the virtual world. As I said to CYBERUK in Belfast in April, I urge businesses to look again at their security and strengthen it where they can. In turn the government will do its bit, including through the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA).
This next year will come with new challenges. But by working together in partnership, underpinned by our values and alliances, and by building on the vital work of the NCSC to make the UK the safest place to live and work online, we will be ready for them.