The National Cyber Security Centre is (NCSC) preparing a brand new website. You can see the beta test site here: www.beta.ncsc.gov.uk
This is part of a natural evolution in UK intelligence over the past thirty years. The revolution in computers and communications technology has seen GCHQ go from being a poor third behind MI5 and SIS to be the lead agency in the UK intelligence world with the biggest budget and the most staff. Good humint is vital, but expensive and rare. Cyber intel can be delivered by the truckload almost as soon as it is needed.
Now, with its own site that does not even mention GCHQ, the NCSC is becoming a major player in its own right. Managers are aware that this agency is going to be the key interface between the British public and the intelligence world. The new site is geared towards providing the broadest range of cyber security advice to browsers and includes a section curiously titled “Products and Services”. It is empty at the moment, but one wonders what kind of products the NCSC will be selling? In the 21st Century, cyber crime and cyber intelligence are going to be two of the biggest threats any country faces, possibly the biggest. The NCSC is moving up in the world.