Cybersecurity

GCHQ is coming out of the shadows to protect Britain's economy from cyber-criminals

GCHQ’s role has always been to collect and use intelligence to disrupt, divert and frustrate our adversaries. We’ve been doing this since 1919 and we’re very good at it. But we cannot afford to stand still. The Government’s investment in a bigger GCHQ gives us a chance to recruit the brightest and best from across our society – as the threat becomes more diverse, so must the workforce that tackles it.

We’re using much of that funding to make GCHQ a cyber organisation as well as an intelligence and counter-terrorism one. We have a longstanding mission to keep sensitive information and systems secure. This has a distinguished history, notably in protecting our own secrets in wartime. But it too often felt like the poor relation. Our new mandate, to help make the UK the best place to live and do business online, has transformed that perception. This profound development is led within GCHQ by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), one year old last week.