Lancashire - The new home of Britain's cyber security

Established in 2020, the National Cyber Force (NCF) is a partnership between GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence which carries out cyber operations on a daily basis to protect against threats to the UK, further the UK’s foreign policy, support military operations, and prevent serious crime.

Following the publication of the Government’s Integrated Review Refresh (IRR) last month, the publication of a new document titled ‘NCF: Responsible Cyber Power in Practice’ today delivers on the commitment in the IRR to be as transparent as possible about the NCF’s cyber capabilities and provide clarity on how the UK acts as a responsible and democratic cyber power.

With the NCF in the middle of moving to Samlesbury we're hearing from local cyber security and defence experts.

Professor Dan Prince is from the University of Lancaster:

"Lancaster University is investing £19m to increase our academic capability to be able to respond to the needs of the cyber security eco-system. And with GCHQ already coming to Manchester, now we've got the national Cyber Force coming to Lancashire.

"The UK Government has really started to demonstrate that cyber security is at the very heart of national security. The release of the National Cyber Strategy and the integrated review demonstrates cyber security is front and centre.

"There is definitely a concern for increased cyber attacks. There's been a long and growing concern about information warfare and what's presented on social media and 'fake news.'

The NCF says all it's operations are conducted in a legal and ethical manner, in line with domestic and international law and our national values. The operations are based on a deep understanding of the cyber environment, which enables NCF to design, time and target them with precision.

The NCF’s work is covert and we therefore do not reveal details of individual operations. Indeed the intent is sometimes that adversaries do not realise that the effects they are experiencing are the result of a cyber operation. This ambiguity can help to amplify the cognitive effect.

Despite the necessary level of secrecy, in line with their commitment to being a responsible cyber actor, the NCF has disclosed that over the last three years has delivered operations to:

• protect military deployments overseas;

• disrupt terrorist groups;

• counter sophisticated, stealthy and continuous cyber threats;

• counter state disinformation campaigns;

• reduce the threat of external interference in democratic elections; and

• remove child sexual abuse material from public spaces online.

Through ‘NCF: Responsible Cyber Power in Practice’, the UK is reiterating its commitment to international stability and security, and illustrating how states can act responsibly in cyberspace, in line with domestic and international law.