The UK’s Alphabet Soup: The Organization of Cybersecurity Actors Protecting Critical National Infrastructure

A number of different actors are involved in protecting critical national infrastructure (CNI) systems within the United Kingdom. The breadth of expertise across varied sectors and industries means that UK CNI is ultimately protected by a loose network rather than a single empowered actor. Although the necessity of such an assemblage is inevitable, the roles and responsibilities of the participants remain ill-defined.

In this policy brief, Centre Research Affiliate Jamie Collier seeks to clarify this issue by outlining three sets of decisions that the UK government must address in the coming years: first, the balance of roles and responsibilities between the public and private sector; second, the arrangements for the internal delegation of the cybersecurity remit within government; and third, the opportunities for international cooperation that the United Kingdom should engage in and prioritize.

 

Read the full policy brief