WIREDGOV

At CYBERUK, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) announced two new initiatives to help strengthen the UK’s national cyber resilience and improve trust in the security of connected technologies.

Cyber Resilience Test Facilities (CTRFs)

The CTRFs programme will develop a national network of assured facilities, this will allow technology vendors to demonstrate the cyber resilience of their products in a consistent and structured way. Independent audits and assessments will be available to both public and private sector organisations, which will include the UK government.

A key feature will be the adoption of a Principles-Based Assurance (PBA) approach, moving away from more traditional compliance based schemes. This will allow for a wider variety of products to be assessed while improving consumer confidence in product security.

Find out more about CRTFs by visiting the NCSC's Cyber Resilience Testing pages.

Cyber Adversary Simulation (CyAS)

The NCSC will also launch a new scheme for Cyber Adversary Simulation (CyAS) in early summer. Under this scheme, assured companies will deliver services to test an organisation’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to realistic cyber attack scenarios.

These simulated attacks will provide insight into how prepared organisations are to defend against evolving cyber threats.

Speaking on the announcement, the NCSC’s Director for National Resilience Jonathan Ellison recently said:

“The Cyber Resilience Test Facilities and Cyber Adversary Simulation schemes mark a significant step forward in our mission to enhance the UK’s cyber resilience.

“The test facilities will allow consumers to be more confident in the security of connected products. And through testing their response to simulated cyber attacks, the UK’s most critical infrastructure will be further empowered to defend against evolving online threats.”

You can read more about the two new initiatives here.

Click here for the full press release