The United Kingdom has a diverse cyber security community, interconnected in a complex network.
Although the terminology is currently largely aligned to a "cyber" view of the world, it is taken to still include information-related concerns, with previous predominant terminology including:
- Automated Data Processing Security or ADP Security (1980s)
- Computer Security or CompuSec (early 1990s)
- IT Security or ITSec (mid 1990s)
- Information Security or InfoSec (late 1990s and early 2000s)
- Information Assurance or IA (2000s and early 2010s)
The significant constituents within that community are probably best understood by grouping into high level categories, namely:
- Public sector bodies
- Academia
- Professional bodies
- Industry groups
- Cross-sector bodies
Public sector bodies
Legislative
According to a parliamentary committee the UK government is not doing enough to protect the nation against cyber attack.[1]
- EURIM, the Digital Policy Alliance [2]
Central government
National strategy
The UK Government periodically publishes a Cyber Security Strategy.[3]
Many of the stakeholders across all categories are engaged with that effort.
Capstone components
The overall responsibility for security within the UK rests with the National Security Council which is a cabinet committee chaired by the Prime Minister tasked with overseeing all issues related to national security, intelligence coordination, and defence strategy.
The internal protective security coordination role for UK government is led by the Government Chief Security Officer (GCSO) within the Cabinet Office, who since 2021 has been Vincent Devine.[4]
The central organisation supporting the GCSO is the Government Security Group (GSG), with a distributed Government Security Function / Government Security Profession across the departments and Arms Length Bodies (ALB), and three National Technical Authorities (NTA), all of which have a role in information and/or cyber security:
- The National Technical Authority for Cyber Security (NTA-C) is the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the UK's authority on cyber security; its parent organisation is GCHQ. It absorbed and replaced CESG (the information security arm of GCHQ) as well as the Centre for Cyber Assessment (CCA), Computer Emergency Response Team UK (CERT UK) and the cyber-related responsibilities of the former Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI). NCSC provides advice and support for the public and private sector in how to avoid cyber threats.[5] CESG (originally Communications-Electronics Security Group) was a branch of GCHQ which worked to secure the communications and information systems of the government and critical parts of UK national infrastructure. The NPSA provided protective security advice to businesses and organisations across the national infrastructure.
- The National Technical Authority for Protective Security (NTA-P) is the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) is the successor organisation to CPNI, but retains some elements of information and cyber security that were not transferred to NCSC, including for Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), and for security containers, locks, and structures to protect assets
- The National Technical Authority for Technical Security (NTA-T) is the UK National Technical Authority for Counter-Eavesdropping (UK NACE), which deals predominantly with countering technical surveillance
Coordination of activity across government is through a series of committees, both from within the world of security,[6] and in aligned domains such as the Chief Technology Officers (CTO), and Knowledge and Information Management (KIM).
Civilian components
The role of Lead Government Department (LGD) for Cyber Security is currently fulfilled by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), having previously rested with:
DSIT is responsible for supporting and promoting the UK cyber security sector, promoting cyber security research and innovation, and working with the National Cyber Security Centre to help ensure all UK organisations are secure online and resilient to cyber threats.
All other government departments and ALBs will have staff in the government security function / government security profession, supporting both their internal staff, and their client communities.
Former bodies in this category include:
- The Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA) supports the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP and the National Security Council in determining priorities in relation to securing cyberspace. The unit provided strategic direction and coordinates action relating to enhancing cyber security and information assurance in the UK. The OCSIA was headed by James Quinault.,[7] but the function has been subsumed into the Government Security Group.
Defence components
The Ministry of Defence has primacy for information and cyber security within both its civilian and military staffs (approximately 250,000 personnel), and for the Defence Supply Base (DSB - approximately 30,000 companies).
It has two main security organisations:
- The Directorate of Security and Resilience (DSR), predominantly focused on physical and personnel security
- The Directorate of Cyber Defence and Risk (CyDR), predominantly focused on information and cyber security
These organisation work collaboratively to publish not only the internal rules, but also Defence Standards and Industry Security Notices (ISN)[8]
In April 2016, the MOD announced the creation of the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) "to protect the MOD's cyberspace from malicious actors" with a budget of over £40 million. It is located at MoD Corsham.[9][10]
MOD collaborates with the DSB over information and cyber security matters through a number of organisations, including:
- Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP)[11]
- Defence Industrial Security Association (DISA),[12] formerly the Guild of Security Controllers (GSC)
- Team Defence Information (the current operating name for the UK Council for Electronic Business (UKCeB)), which is a not-for-profit, membership organisation whose mission is to transform secure information sharing for through life collaboration in defence acquisition and support.[13]
Former bodies in this category include:
- DIPCOG, the Defence Infosec Product Co-Operation Group
National Cyber Force (NCF)
The National Cyber Force consolidates offensive cyber capabilities from the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ.
Law Enforcement
The National Crime Agency (NCA) hosts the law enforcement cyber crime unit, incorporating the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.
Former bodies in this category include:
- National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU)
Wider Public Sector
The Wider Public Sector (WPS) covers both the Central Government and Law Enforcement categories that are itemised separately, but also elements such as:
- Education
- Health
- Local Authorities
Within the WPS, there are a number of collaborative bodies, including:
- Assurance Specialism Advisory Group (ASAG), which runs the SUAC series of Conferences
- Cyber Technical Advisory Group (CTAG),[14] formerly the Public Sector IA Coordination Group (PSIACG)
- Cyber Aware is a cross-government awareness and behaviour campaign which provides advice on the simple measures individuals can take to protect themselves from cyber crime.
Former bodies in this category include:
- CIPCOG, the Civil Infosec Product Co-Operation Group
Regulatory bodies
Two regulatory bodies have a specific cyber security related function:
- The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO),[15] leading on Data Protection (DP) for Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
- OFCOM, leading on telecommunications and broadcast aspects of security
Most other regulatory bodies will have staff covering information and cyber security function for both their internal staff, and their client communities.
Cross Sector Bodies
Current bodies that cover multiple sectors include:
- British Standards Institution (BSI),[28] the UK's National Standards Body (NSB), which not only produces British Standards (BS) and Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) in the areas of Information and Cyber Security, but also provides the UK interface into international Standards Development Organisations (SDO), including ISO, IEC, ITU-T, CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI. The main Expert Committees for BSI relevant to these topic are IST/33 (Information and Cyber Security) and ICT/003 (Trustworthy Systems)
- Get Safe Online (GSOL) is a United Kingdom-based campaign and national initiative to teach citizens about basic computer security and internet privacy. It subsumed ITSafe.
- National IA Forum (NIAF),[29] an independent committee of leading UK Public and Private Sector Information Assurance (IA) experts, which largely replaced the role of GIPSI
- Trustworthy Software Foundation (TSFdn) [30] which is a UK public good activity aimed to encouraging good proactive in systems specification, realisation, and use, and providing related independent Organisational and Solution Conformity Assessments. It arose from the Trustworthy Software Initiative (TSI), previously the Software Security, Dependability and Reliability Initiative (SSDRI), and the Secure Software Development Partnership (SSDP), which were sponsored[31] by the UK government's NPSA, aimed at "making software better".
- UK Cyber Security Council[32] is the self-regulatory body for the UK's cyber security profession. It develops, promotes and stewards nationally recognised standards for cyber security in support of the UK Government's National Cyber Security Strategy to make the UK the safest place to live and work online.
- Warning, Advice and Reporting Points (WARPs) provide a trusted environment where members of a community can share problems and solutions.[33]
Former bodies in this category include:
- Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (CS KTN), as sponsored by Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board)
- Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC) worked across industry, government and academia towards ensuring the UK's information society has a robust, resilient and secure foundation.[34] The IAAC was set up by Baroness Neville-Jones who chaired the organisation until 2007,[35] handing over to the current chairman Sir Edmund Burton. Affiliates include BT Group, Northrop Grumman, QinetiQ, Raytheon, PwC, O2 UK, Ultra Electronics and GlaxoSmithKline.[36] The 2012/13 work programme focused on consumerisation and its effects on information assurance.
- The Information Assuarnce Coordination Group (IACG) was formed following the UK's national IA conference in 2006.[37] The IACG encourages greater collaboration between the commercial supply base for information assurance products and services operating within the UK public sector.[38] The group maintained the UK information assurance community map,[39] hosted on the CESG's web site. It has two co-chairs: Colin Robbins of Nexor and Ross Parsell of Thales. The IACG ceased operation in 2014.
- General IA Products and Service Initiative (GIPSI),[40] which was largely replaced by NIAF
- ITSafe (IT Security Awareness for Everyone) was a former government-funded organisation that provided alerts, which was subsumed into GetSafeOnline
- NDI was a former government-funded organisation building supply chains for the MOD and manufacturers using SMEs in the United Kingdom.[41]
International Linkages
Many of these categories will provide linkages from the UK to other nations' activities in cyber security, including:
- Inter-governmental linkages
- Defence links, in particular with NATO and the Five Eyes Allies
- Standards links, predominantly through BSI
- Community of Practice links, such as the Open Systems Software Foundation (OSSF)