On Tuesday, February 14, 2017, the United Kingdom officially opened its National Cyber Security Centre (“NCSC”).  The NCSC, which got off the ground starting last October, will be part of the Government Communications Headquarters (“GCHQ”), the UK’s intelligence and security arm akin to the National Security Agency in the United States.

The NCSC is designed to be the UK’s single, central body to manage cybersecurity incidents in the country and will be the UK’s hub for interagency cooperation. The NCSC expects to take the lead in responding to the most serious cybersecurity incidents, especially on critical national infrastructure, but also plans to help raise the security capability in the UK against day-to-day malicious activity. 

A key aspect of the NCSC’s operation is partnership with the business community. In addition to offering guidance and training to businesses, the NCSC plans to take up to 100 seconded employees from industry. The NCSC hopes that it will take lessons from industry by bringing in these employees, and they in turn will drive change in the private sector when they return to their jobs.

As part of the NCSC’s operation, the UK government plans to invest £1.9 billion ($2.4 billion) in cybersecurity over the next five years. This spending is part of the UK’s commitment to NATO to spend 2% of its GDP on defense. The UK also signed the NATO Cyber Defense Memorandum of Understanding at the start of February, allowing it to share information and cooperate with other NATO members on cybersecurity issues and response capabilities.