“We live in a liberal democracy with values that we should cherish, but sometimes take for granted. If we don’t get cybersecurity right, the fundamentals of our economy and our way of life could be challenged."
These were the words of Ciaran Martin, CEO, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), speaking at CYBERUK 2017 in Liverpool today.
Day one of the conference, hosted by the NCSC, was focused on the theme of strategy and briefed cybersecurity and IA leaders from across government, CNI, Industry and Academia.
Martin said that there is an obligation for both the private and public sectors to work together to protect the security of data, defending paid for services we use every day but also the critical systems and things that really matter to our way of life, values and sense of identity, like our democratic voting process.
“It’s a partnership with a purpose,” he explained. “When I look at that I think we’re evolving in the way we partner between government, industry and academia.”
There is need to make things easier for the citizen to be more secure, he argued. “We’re [NCSC] unashamedly ambitious that with our national strategy and with the National Cyber Security Centre that we want to be the very best in the world at what we do, and be part of an effort that makes this country the safest place to live and do business online – and it is an achievable goal.”