New legislation will help counter the cyber threat to our essential services

Summary

The UK government has announced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill in the King’s Speech. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) describes this as a landmark step to strengthen protections for critical national infrastructure (CNI) — services such as water, power and healthcare — against an increasingly complex and fast-moving cyber threat landscape.

The bill aims to boost regulation, empower capable regulators, and reduce weaknesses in CNI supply chains. The NCSC stresses that regulation is a powerful tool to accelerate progress but is not a silver bullet; organisations must still be able to detect, respond and recover when incidents occur.

Key Points

The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill was announced in the King’s Speech as a priority for protecting CNI.
The NCSC warns of a rising threat from ransomware and state or state-aligned actors targeting essential services.
The proposed legislation will strengthen regulatory powers and address supply-chain weaknesses that adversaries exploit.
The NCSC and partners have made progress but say regulation is needed to speed improvements and impose costs on attackers.
The bill is a crucial step forward, but combined action (regulation, industry effort, and resilience planning) is required to reduce risk.

Why should I read this?

Short version: if you run, secure or depend on essential services — read it. This explains why the government is pushing new rules, what gaps they aim to fix, and why the NCSC thinks they matter now. It’s a quick, practical take on how regulation could actually make it harder for attackers to hit hospitals, power and water systems.

Author

Punchy: Jonathon Ellison (NCSC Director of National Resilience) lays out the urgency plainly — regulation isn’t everything, but it’s a vital, overdue step. If you’re in security, the public sector or a large organisation, this is worth your attention.