| Link(s): |
| Cyber chief: UK faces “perfect storm” for cyber security | National Cyber Security Centre NCSC CEO keynote speech, CYBERUK 2026 | National Cyber Security Centre |
Context
The head of the UK’s cyber agency, Dr Richard Horne, has stated that the country is facing a “perfect storm” for cyber security against the backdrop of a new “technological revolution” in a speech to the CYBERUK conference in Glasgow.
Key points to note and next actions
Key points include:
- Technological change and geopolitical tensions present uncertainty requiring a culture shift in approach to cyber defence.
- All organisations are urged to follow advice to make cyber security part of their mission, as cyberspace sits “between peace and war”.
- Most significant incidents handled by National Cyber Security Centre are coming from attackers linked to nation states.
- In future, it will be vital to secure technology that will control robotics, autonomous systems and technology that is physically integrated with human bodies. This is beyond the definition of cyber security as understood a decade ago and will require organisations to continually reimagine cyber security.
- Dr Horne set out that organisations which do not focus on their technology base as core to their prosperity are no longer just naïve but are failing to grasp the reality of today’s world, and that “frontier AI” is rapidly enabling discovery and exploitation of existing vulnerabilities at scale, illustrating how quickly it will expose where fundamentals of cyber security are still to be addressed.