The UK government is implementing new measures to make online public services more secure and resilient in a bid to ensure people can use these essential services with confidence.
Backed by over £210 million, the Government Cyber Action Plan sets out how government will try to meet the growing range of online threats. Driven by a new Government Cyber Unit, the plan will rapidly improve cyber defences and digital resilience across government departments and the wider public sector, so people can trust that their data and services are protected.
It underpins UK Government plans to digitise public services. This will make more services accessible online, reduce time spent on phone queues and paperwork, and enable citizens to access support without repeating information across multiple departments.
However, realising these benefits depends on trust. As services move online, they must be secure and resilient. Cyber-attacks can take vital public services offline in minutes, disrupting lives and undermining confidence. The new plan addresses this challenge head-on.
Released as the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill has its Second Reading in the House of Commons, the Bill sets out clear expectations for firms providing services to government to boost their cyber resilience.
The plan aims to generate clearer visibility of cyber risks, build stronger central actions on difficult cyber challenges, create faster response times to threats, and boost better resilience across the government.
“Cyber-attacks can take vital public services offline in minutes – disrupting our digital services and our very way of life,” digital government minister Ian Murray said.
“This plan sets a new bar to bolster the defences of our public sector, putting cyber-criminals on warning that we are going further and faster to protect the UK’s businesses and public services alike.
“This is how we keep people safe, services running, and build a government the public can trust in the digital age.”
The plan is bolstered by further steps to take the UK’s cyber defences further, such as the new Software Security Ambassador Scheme which will help drive adoption of the Software Security Code of Practice, a voluntary project designed to reduce software supply chain attacks and disruption.
Source: DIGIT