NCSC chief executive Ciaran Martin said the aim is to “make the UK the safest place to live and do business online”.
The centre is part of the governments £1.9bn, five-year national cyber security strategy. It began operating in October last year and has already been called into respond to 188 attacks. Prior to its operation, more than 40 different companies were involved in tackling the countries cyber security, but weaknesses in this approach resulted in a lack of confidence in the Government’s ability to respond to cyber-attacks. The idea of one centre allows all the right people to be in the right place to tackle cyber security collectively and more successfully.
With 66% of British companies too “chronically understaffed” to deal with online threats, a centralise approach from the NCSC should help with the skills shortages by providing the right education to the right people, about how to defend themselves and protect our economy.
For example, website hosting companies have been issued with best practise security guidance and people are being encouraged to be practical about their security and not overwhelm themselves to the point of choosing to do nothing or focusing on the wrong areas.
If you were to follow all the guidelines and advice on changing your password and how your password should be configured, you’d be required to memorise a new 600-digit number every month! This is not practical and has been recognised by the GCHQ National Cyber Security Centre. Instead, the advice to the average British citizen is to look at your online exposure in both your personal and professional life – work out what really matters and what you really care about, and apply better protections to those things.
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