27.03.24

Cyber-security – UK Minister Urges Organisations to Increase Cyber-resilience

Organisations urged to Increase Cyber-resilience by UK Minister

UK organisations have been urged to bolster their cyber-security protections as new figures show that 75% of medium-sized and large businesses and 79% of high-income charities experienced a cyber-security incident last year. The government disclosed these startling statistics while revealing data from the third wave of its ongoing Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey (CSLS).

CSLS Explained

The government’s CSLS is investigating how organisations’ cyber-security policies and procedures change over time. The survey began in 2021 and is now in its third wave; its most recent data set is based on responses from hundreds of UK organisations between March and July 2023.

The clear message from the CSLS’ third data wave is that UK organisations should do more to improve their cyber-defences. Although the survey recorded improvements in cyber-resilience for UK organisations between waves one and two, improvements stabilised between waves two and three. Consequently, the minister for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Viscount Camrose, is prompting all UK businesses to do more to improve their cyber-security measures.

“I am calling on organisations of all sizes to step up their cyber-security plans to guard against threats, protect their customers and workforce, and our wider economy,” Camrose said.

Artificial Intelligence

The CSLS also highlighted the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, particularly generative AI, as a cyber-security concern. AI has the potential to help threat actors create malicious code, potentially aiding less sophisticated hackers in breaching organisations. However, AI tools can also be used to improve cyber-resilience, but this idea is not yet fully embraced by all organisations. Indeed, the survey found that almost a quarter of businesses (23%) are not using AI or machine learning to improve their cyber-resilience, a figure that was unchanged between data waves one and three.

Next Steps

Organisations can review the CSLS findings on the government website. Considering the survey’s revelations, the Minister urges organisations to review their cyber-resilience, scrutinise cyber-security measures and understand both the risks and benefits of AI as it pertains to cyber-threats.

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Information provided by Zywave and contributed by Lisa Langley, Cert CII, Team Leader, Professional Risks, Cox Mahon Ltd.