Security News > 2021 > March > Money can buy you insurance against network break-ins but investing in infosec hygiene wouldn't go amiss, says new NCSC chief
So-called cyber-attack insurance "Cannot be a substitute for better basic cybersecurity," the National Cyber Security Centre's chief exec has said in her first major speech since taking office.
Lindy Cameron took over from founding CEO Ciaran Martin last summer and on Friday made her first public appearance since taking office.
Addressing recent fears over those types of attacks on online systems and networks that are never out of the news for long the days, Cameron said: "Insurance can really help to cover costs, but it cannot be a substitute for better basic cybersecurity, making ransomware attacks as hard as possible."
Marking the importance that the government security establishment places on the event, former MI6 chief John Scarlett and ex-GCHQ boss Iain Lobban were both watching the online stream of the speech.
"Cybersecurity is still not taken as seriously as it should be, and is simply not embedded into the UK's boardroom thinking," she continued, lamenting how many British companies see proper infosec hygiene as an optional bolt-on or something for the insurance company to sort out after the disaster, believing everything will be all right on the night.
The new NCSC chief was also quite blunt about continuing the GCHQ offshoot's "Interventionist approach" to security standards and also the wider market.