National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-21 progress report reinforces UK government’s commitment to making society a safer place to live and work

The government has published a progress report on its National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) 2016-21, which reflects on the successes of the strategy so far, and what lies ahead post-2021.

As well as hailing the success of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the government also highlights the positive difference that investment into upskilling the private and public sectors, as well as the general public, has had on the UK’s cyber resilience.

Having consolidated the UK’s reputation in the cyber security space, the government also sets out what it hopes to achieve over the next two years and beyond 2021. This includes maintaining the momentum built so far to maximise the impact of investment across the board, and continuing to engage nationally and internationally across industry, academia and civil society to make our world a safer place to live and work.

Kat Sommer, head of public affairs at NCC Group commented: “The NCSS should be recognised for materially strengthening the UK’s cyber resilience over the past two and a half years. The NCSC’S world-leading role in distilling cyber security knowledge to private and public sector organisations is its most visible achievement to date, but initiatives to equip citizens with the knowledge and tools to tackle cyber risks have been equally important.

“By democratising cyber skills, the strategy has facilitated enhanced collaboration between the government, businesses and consumers by broadening each party’s understanding of the role they can play in strengthening both the UK and rest of the world’s cyber resilience.

“However, we cannot rest on our laurels – especially when we’re still addressing the legacy of security mistakes made over the last 20 years. To build on the positive foundations that have already been established, the second half of the strategy must focus on making cyber security a science by establishing benchmarks to measure and improve our cyber resilience.

“While progress has been made in working collaboratively domestically, we would also encourage the government to focus on strengthening relationships even further with our international partners to stem the growing tide of cyber nationalism.”