Supporting policing to strengthen our digital defences

The recently published Government Cyber Action Plan is a timely reminder of the pervasive threat posed by cyber criminals, and why policing must be resilient. At the Police Digital Service we are working actively to empower forces and strengthen defences across the wider ecosystem in which they operate.

The threat landscape in the UK

In the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) handled 204 nationally significant attacks in the year reporting cycle for 2025, up 77%, and with this an increasing share from nation-state threat actors. High-profile targets have included big-name British brands like Marks & Spencer, the Co-operative, and Jaguar Land Rover, as well as UK government bodies, hospitals, and local authorities. A continual reminder that standing still is not an option for anyone, and policing is no exception.

At PDS, we see how the range of attack methods continues to increase with technological developments. In parallel, policing alongside other key public sector organisations continues to grapple with legacy technology and systems, where vulnerabilities are open to attack. To give an idea of what PDS’s cyber teams are working with, to protect policing:

• More than 220 malicious files are detected, daily, including attachments with viruses or methods to key in and steal data.
• Over 70,000 phishing emails are received across policing, each month. Using increasingly sophisticated lures to gain access to data and systems, via links and forms, it is getting much harder to spot fake emails from official ones.
• Around 30,000 security alerts are recorded each month across forces, flagged up by email reporting or system monitoring.

A piecemeal approach to security with an organisation relying on its own defences, ultimately fails. These threats are global, not local. Therefore, together with forces and partners (in public and business sectors), our focus has to be on establishing and maintaining a ‘community of trust’ that ‘defends as one’.

Our strategy to drive developments across policing cyber security

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), supported by PDS, published the National Policing Cyber Security Strategy in 2024, a north star that set out to increase policing’s cyber resilience to ever increasing and complex, risks and threats. The Strategy committed us to:

• working together to continue to keep policing safe from cyber risks and threats;
• fostering collaboration across forces and partner organisations;
• delivering against the ambitions set out in the overarching National Policing Digital Strategy; and
• supports the wider reform agenda, across policing.

The strategy is overseen by the NPCC’s Information Assurance Portfolio, led by Commissioner Peter O’Doherty, within the Digital Data and Technology Coordination Committee. PDS supports this portfolio’s efforts to drive up standards and improve capability in cyber and information security for and with policing.

Collectively, we are progressing a comprehensive programme through the strategy, and are making significant progress, to push against the rising tide of cyber risks and threats, out in the wider world.

Education and knowledge sharing for the cyber community

Developing the right cyber security skills, knowledge and culture are an integral part of the strategy. This year, we are introducing two new capabilities for policing to support awareness and knowledge development in this area.

PDS has designed a comprehensive programme of digital and in-classroom training for cyber security, tailored to work across levels from leaders through to information security specialist roles. We are working to finalise this suite of products for release targeted from April, with the launch of the first in-person training sessions.

We are also creating a new, trusted platform to find and access knowledge resources (including our library of more than 20 different policies and guidelines), job opportunities, share learning and collaborate. The platform is specifically for cyber professionals working across policing and partner agencies. The capability is hosted by PDS and is due to go live in late February 2026.

Supporting police forces with cyber resilience

The Policing Cyber Assurance Framework has established the foundations around core principles set out for a holistic view of information security risks and threats across policing. From making sure we design security in from the start of new systems (Secure By Design) through to evaluating the risks from existing systems, policing now has a much better view of where we need to focus our time, energy and efforts.

We’re continuing to build up a detailed and live-time picture of national policing and force-level cyber security standards, using the Security Assessment for Policing, to establish on an ongoing basis where efforts can then be targeted to ensure that defences are strengthened and highlight where interventions may be needed.

We’re also supporting forces with their efforts on the ground, to increase cyber resilience. A new offering is available to provide expertise and support for police forces working to strengthen their cyber security defences. Pilot work is underway with forces to trial and test the approach before making the service available more widely on a case-by-case basis.

One of the key challenge areas is maintaining security across third-party providers of services to policing. Our Third-Party Assurance for Policing (TPAP) service is focused on this key area with more than 300 service providers involved in the current scheme. The next phase of TPAP’s development, is to provide a bureau service, so that policing has a clear and comprehensive view of the data it shares with third parties and can appropriately assess and respond to the risks across the supply chain.

Protecting the frontline

The PDS National Management Centre (NMC) works across 60 policing organisations, including key national policing platforms and systems. The centre runs 24/7 to prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks that target policing.

The growing complexity of threats and risks in the digital landscape, requires the latest understanding and state-of-the-art capabilities to support their ongoing efforts. The Strategy plays a vital role here, with enhancing capabilities to protect policing. To this end our NMC Futures initiative is working to build on the service offering that we have and ensure we have the best technology available to fight cyber criminals and protect policing’s digital infrastructure.

These strategy initiatives, would not be possible without the commitment and support of government, policing and partner agencies, working together and investing time, energy and resources; to ensure that the quality of services PDS provides for cybersecurity meet the highest standards. I look forward to 2026 as we continue to forge ahead with our efforts to protect and serve UK policing.

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