“Ransomware is now key cyber threat” warns NCSC CEO

Cameron also revealed the threat faced by Think Tanks, noting that it’s “almost certain” that the primary cyber threat they face is from nation state espionage groups. It’s highly likely the latter will seek to gain strategic insights into Government policy and commercially sensitive information.

The CEO of the NCSC – which is a part of GCHQ – has also warned that, for the majority of UK citizens and organisations, the primary key threat is not state actors, but cyber criminals.

Cameron highlighted the importance of building organisational cyber resilience which, in combination with Government capabilities and law enforcement action, is the most effective way in which to counter threats in cyber space.

“For most UK citizens and businesses,” suggested Cameron, “and indeed for the majority of Critical National Infrastructure providers and Government service providers, the primary key threat is not state actors, but cyber criminals, and in particular the threat of ransomware. While Government is uniquely able to disrupt and deter our adversaries, it’s network defenders in industry, and the steps that all organisations and citizens are taking, that are protecting the UK from attacks day in and day out.”

On that note, Cameron added: “The protection they provide is crucial to the digital transformation of the economy and every organisation, be it large or small in scale, has a role to play in this regard.”

An evolving ecosystem

Focusing on the recent rise in ransomware attacks, Cameron observed that the ecosystem is evolving through the Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, whereby ransomware variants and commodity listings are available off-the-shelf for a one-off payment or a share of the profits.

As the RaaS model has become increasingly successful, with criminal groups securing significant ransom payments from large and profitable businesses who cannot afford to lose their data to encryption or suffer the downtime while their services are offline, the market for ransomware has become increasingly “professional”.

Cameron also set out the context of the Integrated Review and forthcoming cyber strategy, highlighting the need to better integrate the UK’s security, economic, technical and diplomatic capabilities in support of shared national objectives.