New UKAuthorITy research programme will investigate the evolving influence of AI on the public sector cyber security landscape
Cyber security has always been high on the public sector’s digital agenda, but there is now a greater sense of urgency over the need to adapt to a rapidly evolving threat landscape as we seek to modernise and transform public service delivery.
The issue was highlighted early this year by the National Audit Office, with a report stating that the cyber threat to UK government is severe, advancing quickly and cannot be ignored. It emphasised the need for swift action in response.
It highlighted weaknesses in the security posture, including a shortage of skills, a lack of coordination within the sector and the size, diversity and age of the health and public sector's digital estate.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) made the issue a major feature in its recently published Blueprint for modern digital government, emphasising the significant risk to resilience and referring to “inadequate” cyber defences. The document says this has created the need for a more interventional model for cyber security and technical resilience.
AI threats and opportunities
New elements to this are emerging with the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). Digital and security leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the threat of AI as a lethal tool for cyber attackers, with concerns that it helps them to develop new forms of deception and rapidly scale attacks.
But it also provides new possibilities for strengthening defences, through innovative approaches to threat detection and discovering vulnerabilities across complex legacy estates, and deception techniques to catch out attackers. It can also be used to identity data and documents entering and leaving an organisation’s network, and to strengthen a zero trust architecture for networking.
AI is creating both new risks and new opportunities in the cyber security landscape.
This has prompted UKAuthorITy, in partnership with Zscaler, to launch a new research project investigating the potential of AI to strengthen the security around modern digital government.
Over the coming months we will be staging a series of (virtual) editorial roundtable discussions with leaders and experts in the NHS, central government and local government to explore the challenges - to assess response to the NAO’s warnings and the priorities in the DSIT Blueprint, and to identify the potential for harnessing AI to strengthen cyber security.
There will also be a UKA Live discussion exploring preliminary findings, reader polls and editorial, leading to publication of a white paper and a series of podcasts later this year.
This editorial research promises a significant contribution to thinking about cyber resilience in public services, and any public sector leaders interested in taking part in the roundtables are welcome to contact our research director Helen Olsen Bedford at helen@ukauthority.co.uk.
Research partner supporting this programme
