Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Four Takeaways From the New UK Cybersecurity Strategy

Four Takeaways From the New UK Cybersecurity Strategy

Two weeks ago, with much fanfare, the United Kingdom released a new strategy that sets out UK government’s approach to improving the country’s cybersecurity over the next five years.
It follows the UK’s previous effort dating back to 2011, and allocates £1.9 billion ($2.36 billion) over five years, doubling the previous investment of £860 million ($1 billion). This newest five year plan has the usual fare. It identifies the threats and vulnerabilities facing the UK, creates three pillars using alliteration (defend, deter and develop), and is filled with government-speak that could have been ripped from The Thick of It or Veep ("we need to invest in proofing ourselves against future threats").

The threats the UK identifies are not surprising. It singles out Russian-language organized cybercrime, state-sponsored threats, terrorist groups (although it caveats that terrorist groups are likely to prefer physical attacks over digital ones for the time being), hacktivists, and oddly, script kiddies. The strategy also points out the UK’s vulnerabilities, such as the proliferation of insecure internet of things devices, poor cyber hygiene, legacy and unpatched systems, and the availability of off-the-shelf hacking resources. These threats and vulnerabilities are not unique to the UK--every country connected to the internet faces identical or similar challenges.

There are four takeaways from the new strategy.

First, there seems to be an inherent tension between market incentives to spur better cybersecurity and regulation throughout the document. There’s a heavy emphasis placed on the importance of using a mix of intelligence sharing, incentives to spur the creation of cybersecurity products like certification schemes or incentives to create software that is "secure by default," and using the government as a test case for cybersecurity approaches with the hopes that they cascade into the private sector. However, the strategy recognizes that much of these same efforts were undertaken in the previous iteration of the strategy, with somewhat limited effect. The strategy leaves the door open to regulation but doesn’t elaborate on what that could look like. There’s also no mention of the EU network and information security directive, which the UK is still technically required to implement until it formally leaves the European Union.

Second, the strategy places heavy emphasis on taking "active cyber defense" measures to protect the UK. Generally, the term active cyber defense has been synonymous with hacking back, whereby companies and other non-government actors are allowed to retaliate in cyberspace and is controversial. In its strategy, that’s not what the UK is advocating. Instead, active cyber defense is defined as a series of technical measures, taken by government in cooperation with industry (mostly communications service providers), to make it "significantly harder to attack UK internet services and users." The technical measures include DNS filtering, coordinating botnet take-downs, DMARC and other methods to curtail phishing, man-in-the-middle attacks, and Border Gateway Protocol hijacks. If you’re technically-minded, you can read more about the UK active defense approach here.

Third, the UK, like many other countries, seems to be more open about resorting to the use of offensive cyber operations to protect and defend its interests. Five years ago, countries were loathe to openly talk about offensive cyber capabilities, with many only referencing defensive capabilities in what could be gleaned from official doctrine. Now, the UK is open about the need to invest in its National Offensive Cyber Program to ensure that UK capabilities "can be deployed at a time and place" of its choosing.

The strategy also makes clear that the UK will attribute state-sponsored cyber incidents publicly when "we judge it in the national interest to do so." Unlike the United States, Germany, Canada, South Korea, and others, the UK has yet to publicly accuse a state of being behind a specific cyber incident. Perhaps the new strategy signals that UK officials will be more open to naming and shaming as part of their cyber deterrence efforts.

Fourth the strategy makes explicit the UK’s desire to develop sovereign cryptographic capabilities, "developed in the UK, by British nationals." This raises a bunch of questions. Does the UK not trust crypto advocated by its other Five Eyes partners or in standardization bodies? Is it a response to the NSA’s alleged undermining of a widely used crypto standard that came to light as a result of Edward Snowden? Is the UK trying to stimulate the development of crypto that can be decrypted by law enforcement to fix the "going dark" problem?

As with any government strategy document, its implementation will determine its effectiveness. Much of the strategy rests on developing government capabilities with the hope that the UK private sector shamelessly pilfers the best ideas and approaches. Cybersecurity is probably one of the few areas where plagiarism is celebrated, not frowned upon.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
×