Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen cyber security.

The National Cyber Strategy 2022 sets out how the UK will continue to be a leading responsible and democratic cyber power, able to protect and promote our interests in and through cyberspace. It is supported by more than £2.6 billion of investment over three years with a particular emphasis on improving the government’s own cyber security.

The Strategy is delivering a step-change in the UK’s cyber resilience with the government leading the way, adopting a more proactive and sustained campaign approach to deter our adversaries, putting cyber power at the heart of the UK’s foreign policy agenda, whilst protecting and pursuing a competitive advantage in the underpinning technologies that are critical to cyberspace. It also emphasises a whole-of-society approach calling on all parts of society to play their part in reinforcing the UK’s economic and strategic strengths in cyberspace.

In August 2023 the Government published its first annual report on progress implementing the Strategy. The report highlighted the success in the last twelve months in improving cyber resilience through the NCSC Cyber Action Plan and Cyber Essentials as well as disruptions such as the first tranche of cyber sanctions and the takedown of the GENESIS marketplace, a go-to service for cyber-criminals.