The United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) officially opened the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in London Tuesday, creating a rapid response force for major cyber incidents.
While the NCSC is organizationally part of the GCHQ it includes the U.K. CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team), protective security experts from MI5 – the U.K.’s domestic security service, and GCHQ’s experts in information security. It was setup to have formalized and integrated operational partnerships with law enforcement, defense, and private industry.
The GCHQ is a government intelligence agency that focuses on cyber and signals intelligence, akin to the United States’ National Security Agency.
Last September Ciaran Martin, the new center’s chief executive, explained at a Washington, D.C. event that the NCSC has three main functions: incident management; improvement of cyber security in critical sectors of the economy; and providing general advice, guidance, and active interventions to improve national cyber security.
Robert Hannigan, director GCHQ, spoke at the opening that “This morning we begin a new chapter in nearly 100 years of GCHQ’s service to the country.”
He said the government has a high ambition in opening the center, to make the U.K. the safest place to live and do business online. “In stepping up to this challenge, we in GCHQ know that this is as great a task as any we have met before,” Hannigan said.
Martin added that “We’re here to build a lasting national asset, supporting the number one digital economy in the world. We want to write the next amazing chapter in the history of GCHQ, a world class organisation.”
Martin said success does not mean the NCSC will prevent all cyber attacks but that the U.K. will become the hardest of targets. The overall cyber security goals include making sure basic cyber attacks do not get through defenses; increasing the likelihood of detection if attackers get through and advise the government on how best to respond; help government departments and companies build state-of-the-art security in critically important systems; and telling British consumers how to deal with attacks that target them.
“That’s our mission,” Martin said. “It’s ambitious. We will make mistakes. Initiatives will disappoint. Things will go wrong. Bear with us, because we’ll make it work for the whole country.”
The opening of the NCSC included a visit by Queen Elizabeth II who officially opened the center during a ceremony with government officials, academics, international partners, and private sector partners.