NCSC Annual Review 2025

The NCSC’s proactive support in managing national cyber incidents has significantly strengthened Scotland’s ability to respond swiftly and effectively to threats. We continue to support the evolution of the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) as it develops its national role in coordinating response to incidents in Scotland. Additionally, the success of the CyberFirst programme in many Scottish schools highlights the value of collaboration in building a cyber-aware and skilled future workforce.

Funded by the Welsh Government and delivered in partnership with the Welsh Local Government Association, we have supported the roll-out of the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) across all local authorities and Fire and Rescue Services. This collaborative approach has created a consistent foundation for strengthening cyber resilience across the country. Building on this, our guidance helped the Cyber Resilience Unit (CRU) develop a suite of bilingual videos focusing on phishing, ransomware, and social engineering. These resources are helping public sector staff better recognise and respond to the most common cyber threats.

Our partnership with the CRU has also seen the launch of the Cyber Exercising Programme, giving Welsh public sector organisations a trusted and controlled environment to develop, test, and refine their Cyber Incident Management Plans. The programme also ensures senior leaders understand the strategic importance of maintaining readiness in the face of cyber threats.

Complementing these efforts, we have worked closely with CymruSOC — Wales’ Security Operations Centre — to share threat intelligence and examples of best practice. This collaboration is helping to create a faster, smarter, and more coordinated defence against cyber attacks.

Our collaboration with Northern Ireland has continued to grow this year. NI government departments have increasingly embraced free NCSC tools and services — such as Active Cyber Defence via MyNCSC — to strengthen their security posture and protect vital services. This spirit of partnership was showcased during CyberNI Week, an event highlighting the value of partnership between the public and private sectors. The NCSC played an active role in its success, with senior staff contributing to both the inaugural CyberNI Public/Private Sector Conference and the NI government cyber security conference.

Building on this momentum, NI Cyber Security Centre — supported through NCSC funding — delivered the Cyber Essentials Programme, enabling 60 SMEs to access free cyber security support. This has helped increase resilience across Northern Ireland’s business community.

Our work also continues to support the next generation through the CyberFirst programme, which is flourishing in NI and opening new pathways for young people to explore careers in the fastgrowing cyber sector.

The NCSC’s sector‑specific Trust Groups have continued to grow. Over 350 delegates from over 200 leading companies are now meeting regularly to exchange threat intelligence, best practices and incident response strategies in a secure and confidential environment. Following the high‑profile cyber attacks on retailers in mid‑2025, our Retail Sector Trust Group was immediately mobilised to ensure the wider sector was aware of the evolving threat. This allowed companies to put immediate controls in place and likely reduced the chance of other organisations being impacted.

Cyber League is a new NCSC initiative which brings together a trusted community of NCSC and industry cyber experts to work on the biggest cyber threats facing the UK. Members of Cyber League are a diverse group of industry experts, working with NCSC analysts, to bring their unique knowledge and understanding to the threat picture. They take part in a range of engagements, including analytic workshops and discussion groups. Their work is a crucial part of improving visibility and tracking existing and emerging threats to the UK.