Security News > 2021 > June > NCSC chief: Ransomware is more of a threat to Britain than hostile nations' spies

The head of Britain's National Cyber Security Center has warned it is ransomware that's the key threat for most people.

"What I find most worrying isn't the activity of state actors," NCSC chief exec Lindy Cameron told a national security audience, joining the chorus of organisations calling out ransomware criminals as the number one cybersecurity threat of the moment.

The speech marks the first time that GCHQ, the spy agency and parent body of the National Cyber Security Centre, has acknowledged a cyber threat as being of more concern to the UK than traditional state spying.

"In some respects, our response to ransomware is straightforward: we need to continue to build the UK's cyber resilience so that attacks cannot reach their targets in the first place," said Cameron, highlighting her organisation's guidance on how not to get pwned by internet crooks.

On top of the cybersecurity hygiene practices, with which Register readers will be well familiar, there's what Cameron described in her speech as the "Whole-of-nation approach" to tackling the ransomware menace.

Wide-ranging as it was, the week's focus on international cybersecurity and ransomware so far means Cameron's closing call for more "Partnerships with partners around the world" might bear fruit - if Russia, China, and others are prepared to play ball.

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https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/06/15/ncsc_chief_rusi_speech/