The Conferderation of British Industry (better known as the CBI) ran its annual Cyber Security Conference in London this week. The event, designed ‘to give you real solutions to cyber issues’ had headline conference speeches by the head of the National Cyber Security Centre (a GCHQ division) and the ICO.

The NCSC’s head, Ciaran Martin stated that whilst the headlines rightly focus on Russian hackers, there is a whole world of cyber criminality focussed on the UK:

“There is a lot more to the cyber security challenge facing the UK than just Russia – serious and sustained though that threat is.

There are other nation states attacking us too.

And large scale criminal cyber activity is, sadly, ubiquitous.

Russia’s elite hackers may target us, but customer data sets may be targeted by another country or criminals. Businesses need to understand that threat.

That’s why we – the NCSC – publish as much as we can about the threat, so you can make judgements about what matters most to your business.”

The ICO’s Deputy Commissioner James Dipple-Johnstone discussed the changing developments within data privacy and their impact on the UK: “Data security and data privacy have always been linked. Privacy depends on security. No obligation to provide privacy will be meaningful if the data to be protected are accessed or stolen by unauthorised third parties. As a result, all modern data protection principles include an obligation to protect information and security and that has been recognised in every significant codification of data protection, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the new Data Protection Act.”

The conference will, in due course, publish a full report which will be available on the CBI website. So, keep a look out for the latest insight into the UK’s cyber attack landscape on the CBI website.