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First Secretary of State Damian Green marks the first anniversary of the creation of the National Cyber Security Strategy.

The First Secretary of State, Damian Green, spoke at the landmark opening of the new global headquarters of the NCC Group in Manchester, marking the first anniversary of the creation of the National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS).

The NCSS was launched a year ago in response to the growing cyber security challenges and threats faced by the UK and to define the Government’s ambitions for the future.

As a part of this world-leading strategy the government invested £1.9 billion in establishing the innovative National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), demonstrating a long-term commitment to keeping the UK safe. Since its launch the NCSC has responded to over 590 significant cyber incidents: providing support to victims, sharing information with intelligence and law enforcement, and setting up incident management structures to ensure essential services are up and running once incidents have occurred.

The First Secretary spoke at the headquarters of the NCC Group - a global expert in cyber security and risk mitigation. The newly built headquarters in Manchester equipped with state of the art technology will employ more than 500 cyber security experts providing Britain’s and Europe’s largest companies with cyber security consultancy and cyber incident response.

Damian Green, First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office yesterday said:

This Government is committed to tackling the growing threat of cyber security and will continue to invest in the future of our defence programme.

The Government’s Cyber Schools programme aims to provide skills to nearly 6,000 young people in order to secure the UK’s position as a world leader in cyber security for generations to come.

I am delighted that a global cyber security expert has chosen to open their headquarters in Manchester - fuelling the success of the Northern Powerhouse.

Brian Tenner, Interim CEO at NCC Group yesterday said:

NCC Group continues to play a pivotal role in advising government and helping to implement national initiatives which are strengthening the UK’s cyber security posture and helping to improve the country’s technical capabilities in this area. The First Secretary’s visit is recognition of this continuing support and we were delighted to welcome him to our company headquarters today.

The threat of cyber crime is an ever-evolving issue that is increasing in severity every day. It is encouraging that the UK Government is treating this as a priority and putting concrete strategies in place to address this. We will continue to offer our assistance and work closely with the UK Government on these new initiatives in order to improve the UK’s ability to defend against modern cyber threats.