The UK government has introduced new cybersecurity measures to make online public services more secure and resilient so people can use them with confidence, whether applying for benefits, paying taxes or accessing healthcare.
Backed by over £210m, the Government Cyber Action Plan sets out how the government will 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.
The plan underpins UK government plans to digitise public services to make more accessible online, reduce time spent on phone queues and paperwork, and enable people to access support without repeating information across multiple departments.
It also sets out clear expectations for firms providing services to the government to boost their cyber resilience.
It is hoped the plan will lead to clearer visibility of risks, stronger central action on the toughest challenges, faster response to threats and incidents, and higher resilience across government.
“Cyber attacks can take vital public services offline in minutes, disrupting our digital services and our very way of life,” says Ian Murray, digital government minister.
“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.”
A new Software Security Ambassador Scheme will now help drive adoption of the Software Security Code of Practice – a voluntary project designed to reduce software supply chain attacks and disruption.
The government says software underpins the economy as a core component of all technologies that businesses rely on, yet weaknesses in software can cause severe disruption to supply chains and the essential services the public use every day.
More than half (59%) of organisations experiencing software supply chain attacks in the past year.
Last month, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) launched a cyber runway scheme to use SMEs to bolster the digital defence of UK critical national infrastructure.
