The UK’s National Cyber Advisory Board (NCAB) has called for a ‘whole of society’ approach to cybersecurity, after the UK is revealed as the third most targeted nation in the world.

The new forum, which aims for more inclusive and engaged national dialogue on cyber, met following the publication of ONS data which found that Great Britain is behind only the US and Ukraine when it comes to cyber attacks.

According to the figures, there were 2.7 million cyber-related frauds in the UK between April 2021 and March 2022.

The board is co-chaired by the chancellor of the duchy and Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, and chief information officer at Lloyds Banking Group, Sharon Barber.

The research also found that fraud offences in the UK have increased by 25 per cent compared to the year ended March 2020, largely driven by significant increases in advance fee fraud and consumer and retail fraud.

The proportion of fraud incidents that were cyber-related jumped from 53 per cent to 61 per cent.

“Protecting and promoting the UK’s interests in cyberspace cannot be achieved in isolation, it must be a shared endeavour between government and all parts of the economy and society,” said Oliver Dowden, chancellor of the duchy and Lancaster and chair of the board. “We have seen how cyber-attacks are increasing, putting the UK and our businesses and services on the frontline of global threats."

Dowden continued: "That’s why this new National Cyber Advisory Board is so important, bringing leaders from across industry, the third sector, and academia to share information and expertise on how to build and protect our digital economy and services.”

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