The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is an organisation of the

United Kingdom Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

that provides advice and support for the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

and

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

in how to avoid

computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

threats. Based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, it became operational in October 2016, and its parent organisation is

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

History

The NCSC absorbed and replaced CESG (the information security arm of GCHQ), the Centre for Cyber Assessment (CCA), Computer Emergency Response Team UK (CERT UK) and the cyber-related responsibilities of the

Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) is the United Kingdom government authority which provides protective security advice to businesses and organisations across the national infrastructure. Their advice aims to reduc ...

(CPNI). It built on earlier efforts of these organisations and the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

to provide guidance on

Information Assurance Information assurance (IA) is the practice of assuring information and managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information. Information assurance includes protection of the integrity, availability, authenticity, ...

to the UK's wider private sector, such as the "10 Steps" guidance released in January 2015. In pre-launch announcements, the UK government stated that the NCSC would first work with the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

to advise financial institutions on how to bolster online defences. The centre was first announced in November 2015 by the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

. The existing Director General Cyber of GCHQ, Ciaran Martin, leads the new centre, and GCHQ's current Technical Director of Cyber Security, Dr Ian Levy, assumed the same role at the NCSC. A detailed paper on the creation of the NCSC, including a description of its structure and future challenges, written by the then Director of GCHQ,

Robert Hannigan Robert Peter Hannigan CMG (born 1965) is a cybersecurity specialist who has been Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, since 2021. He was a senior British civil servant who previously served as the director of the signals intelligence and cryptog ...

, who is widely credited with establishing the centre, was published by the

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...

in February 2019. The centre was dedicated by the Queen on 14 February 2017.

Philip Hammond Philip Hammond, Baron Hammond of Runnymede (born 4 December 1955) is a British politician and life peer who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019, Foreign Secretary from 2014 to 2016, and Defence Secretary from 2011 to 2014. ...

, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced an investment of £1.9 billion and an initiative to embed 100 people from industry into the NCSC on secondment. In April 2016, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

announced that a Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) "to protect the MOD's cyberspace from malicious actors" with a budget of over £40 million will contribute to this initiative. It is located at

MoD Corsham MOD Corsham (formerly Basil Hill Barracks) is a Ministry of Defence establishment located between the towns of Corsham and Box in Wiltshire, England. History The War Office bought a section of the Pockeridge estate to provide space for Basil ...

. In October 2017, technical director Ian Levy was targeted by email prankster James Linton with a fake industry event; however, Levy correctly identified the unexpected headers and worked with him to put out a security blog about the incident. On 1 October 2020 Lindy Cameron, formerly director-general of the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...

, took over from

Ciaran Martin Ciaran Liam Martin, (born 19 September 1974), was the first CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). In September 2020 he was appointed Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at the Blavatnik School of Governmen ...

as CEO.

List of chief executives

(3 October 2016 to 31 August 2020) #

Lindy Cameron Lindy Cameron is a British civil servant who is chief executive officer at the National Cyber Security Centre. She was previously Director-General responsible for the Department for International Development’s programmes in Africa, Asia and ...

(1 October 2020 to present; ''was Acting CEO (1 September 2020 to 30 September 2020)'')

References

External links

*
"New National Cyber Security Centre set to bring UK expertise together"
– UK Government press release, March 2016
"10 steps to cyber security"
– NCSC, November 2018 {{authority control 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom Cybercrime in the United Kingdom Government agencies established in 2016 Government of the United Kingdom Information technology organisations based in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

National security of the United Kingdom Organisations based in the City of Westminster

History

List of chief executives

See also

References

External links