Looking Back at NCSC’s Work for the Past Year

• The NCSC's third Annual Review (1 September 2018 to 31 August 2019) reported that it has defended the U.K. against more than 600 attacks the past year.
• It has also produced 154 threat assessments for a number of sectors and provided support to almost 900 victim organizations.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published its third Annual Review. It outlines the most targeted sectors, highlights operations, details new technology, and provides various statistics of the past year.

Surveying the numbers

The NCSC handled 658 incidents last year. This brings the total number to almost 1,800.

• It published 69 blogs, 154 threat assessments, and 34 pieces of guidance.
• Around 900 victim organizations received support from the cybersecurity center.
• 177,335 phishing URLs were taken down, of which 62.4% were removed within 24 hours.

What else?

NCSC also played an important role in protecting the democratic process by periodically meeting with political parties and giving them advice on cybersecurity.

• Operation Haulster was an initiative that protects individuals and families by flagging malicious intent against more than one million stolen credit cards.
• Active Cyber Defence (ACD) comprises several programs that tackle cyber attacks to improve national resilience. The report talks about the success of each program in the ACD.

What they’re saying

“We've made great progress on making the UK safer since launching our world-leading £1.9 billion cyber security strategy in 2015. Establishing the NCSC was a key part of this and has played a central role in tackling online threats posed by criminals, hacktivists and hostile nation-states,” said Oliver Dowden, Minister for the Cabinet Office.

“This review gives a real insight into the breadth of outstanding work done by the NCSC and underlines why we are a world leader in cyber security. From handling more than 600 incidents – many from hostile nation-states – to equipping the public with the tools they need to stay safe online, we are employing our expertise on a number of fronts.,” said NCSC Chief Executive Ciaran Martin.