The UK’s cyber security chief warned of a growing disconnect between the UK’s increasing virtual threats and its allies ‘ social defense capabilities.
Richard Horne, the newly appointed head of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), urged closer cooperation between the UK and its allies during a wider call for greater global resilience in the face of extremely sophisticated and violent online security threats, during Singapore International Cyber Week.
” Increased dependence on technology is driving growth and changing societies, creating exciting new opportunities. Additionally, it puts us at greater risk of cybercrimes. Without collective action, we risk widening the gap between the escalating threats to our societies, vital services and businesses, and our ability to defend and be resilient”, said Horne.
” There are more important incidents on the rise, and the threat landscape is getting more and more complicated. To close this gap, we require coordinated international efforts to improve cyber resilience, ensure security is integrated into all technological developments, and train both the public and private sectors to not only defend, but also recover quickly from devastation from dangerous cyberattacks.
Horne emphasized that this collaboration was crucial given the significant expansion of the threat landscape as a result of the expansion of cyber capabilities, which saw the NCSC respond to 50 % more nationally significant incidents in 2024 than they did last year, as well as a threefold rise in” severe incidents” and the significant broadening of the threat landscape.
He cited the <a href=”https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366612698/UK-and-Singapore-to-collaborate-on-supporting-ransomware-victims”>guidance created by the UK and Singapore during the third Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit , which 39 nations and eight foreign insurance bodies endorsed last month.
According to that guidance, paying ransoms does not guarantee data recovery or future security, but rather encourages victims to report attacks to the authorities, check the reliability of their data backups, and consult digital experts. Additionally, it gives organizations the opportunity to act quickly by putting together policies, frameworks, and communications plans.
” This is a prime example of the progress we can achieve by working together, proving that cyber space knows no boundaries”, said Horne.
Horne even made the point that many new technologies being developed right now could become prone without integrated management and security throughout the product life cycle, while also emphasizing the importance of long-term technology resilience.
” Today’s innovation is tomorrow’s legacy”, he said. The cutting-edge technologies we are developing today will evolve into tomorrow’s legacy technologies. To make sure they will remain safe and tenacious in the future, we must adopt a lifecycle management approach.
He continued, “governments need to step in to set the tone and guide the conversation” rather than letting it be left to businesses and the public service only, arguing that while developers must plan for the future to ensure new systems are able to withstand tomorrow’s virtual threats.
The NCSC previously issued a warning in January 2024 that it was soon anticipated that artificial intelligence ( AI ) would be widely used to increase the frequency and impact of ransomware attacks, noting that it is already known that the technology is being used for ill-defined cyber crimes.
” The evolving use of AI in cyber attacks is biological, no revolution, meaning that it enhances existing threats like ransomware but does not transform the risk landscape in the near term”, said then-NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron.
We urge organizations and individuals to adhere to our ransomware and cybersecurity hygiene advice to strengthen their defenses and increase their resilience to cyberattacks, as the NCSC does everything it can to make sure Artificial systems are protected by design.
