Cyber security is business survival

Summary

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), alongside Ministers and the National Crime Agency, co-signed a ministerial letter to the chief executives and chairs of Britain’s leading firms (including all FTSE 350 companies) urging urgent action to reduce cyber risk. The core message: don’t wait for a breach — act now. The NCSC highlights a 50% rise in highly significant incidents handled by its Incident Management team in the year to September and warns of growing legal, financial and reputational consequences for organisations that fail to prepare.

Key Points

NCSC co-signed a ministerial letter to senior leaders of major UK companies, including FTSE 350 firms, urging urgent cyber action.
Highly significant incidents rose 50% in the year to September — the threat is increasing and indiscriminate.
Three immediate steps are recommended for boards: make cyber a Board-level priority via the Cyber Governance Code of Practice; sign up to NCSC’s Early Warning service; require Cyber Essentials across supply chains.
Failure to act risks legal, financial and reputational damage — and has real human impact, as executives have highlighted.
Improving cyber resilience requires government–industry collaboration and collective effort to outpace evolving threats.

Content summary

The blog sets out why senior leaders must treat cyber security as a core business priority rather than an IT problem. It summarises the ministerial letter that was sent to leaders of major UK organisations and lays out three concrete, practical steps boards can take immediately to reduce exposure. The piece stresses rising incident rates and the broad consequences of inaction, and it points readers to the Cyber Governance Code of Practice, the NCSC Early Warning service and Cyber Essentials guidance for supply chains.

Context and relevance

This is timely and strategic guidance from the UK’s central cyber agency aimed at senior decision-makers. For large organisations and public-sector bodies the article underlines a clear shift: cyber resilience is now framed as essential to business continuity and national economic stability. It aligns with broader trends of rising cyber incidents, tighter regulatory scrutiny and growing emphasis on supply-chain security.

Author’s take

Punchy: Jonathon Ellison, NCSC Director of National Resilience, delivers a short, forceful call to action — boards must treat cyber risk as a strategic, enterprise-level issue now, not later. If you lead or advise large organisations this is worth acting on immediately.

Why should I read this?

Look, if you’re responsible for a big organisation or you advise people who are, this cuts to the chase. It tells senior leaders what to do next — three practical moves that actually change risk — and reminds you the threat is getting worse. Short read, big consequences. Save yourself a headache and read it.