According to the NCSC’s latest annual review, the UK is facing an unprecedented rise in cyber threats.
The organisation handled 204 nationally significant attacks in the past year, up from 89 in the previous 12 months.
Of a total of 429 incidents handled, 18 were categorised as ‘highly significant’, meaning that they had the potential to have a serious impact on essential services.
This marks an almost 50% increase on incidents of this second-highest level categorisation compared with the previous year and an increase for the third year running.
As the NCSC warns that cyber security has become a matter of national resilience, Toby Gasson, Principal Product Manager at Wireless Logic, said, “The UK being under near-constant cyber-attack comes as no surprise.
As industries digitise, their most critical functions increasingly depend on connected devices and IoT infrastructure. This growing reliance expands the threat surface and demands a new level of vigilance, along with recognition that it brings vulnerabilities which can no longer be ignored.
“From energy and healthcare to retail and manufacturing, connected devices now form the backbone of daily operations. They control heating and power, monitor patients and optimise production lines. Yet many still sit outside traditional IT perimeters, creating blind spots where attackers can move unseen. With thousands or even millions of endpoints across supply chains, the challenge isn’t securing a single device but the entire network that connects them. The government is right to call for board-level focus – cyber resilience has become a strategic imperative.
“The way we think about IoT security must evolve from piecemeal protection to built-in resilience. Secure-by-design connectivity, supported by strong authentication, anomaly detection and continuous visibility, ensures every device on a network is identifiable and protected from compromise. It’s the only sustainable way to safeguard the UK’s connected economy against the kind of large-scale disruption the NCSC is warning about.”
Daniel Shiu, Chief Cryptographer at Arqit, said, “We are in a period of rapid technological progress that is also creating substantial security upheaval.
“Attacks are growing in frequency and severity, and the unfortunate reality is that this trend will continue in the years ahead. Organisations need to understand that resilience depends on more than reacting quickly to incidents. It starts with knowing where the weaknesses lie within their own systems.
“Identifying weaknesses in how data is protected and managed is just as important as defending against external threats. Building that awareness into the foundation of digital infrastructure is what will ultimately define resilience in the years ahead.”
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