Police Digital Service putting people at the heart of policing’s cyber resilience

When the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover hit the headlines, much of the focus was on the visible fallout: halted production, supply chain disruption, and the knock‑on effects on the local economy. In policing, a similar attack isn’t just commercially damaging, it is potentially life‑threatening.

Chris Cope is the Chief Security Information Officer for the Police Digital Service (PDS) and he spoke to me for the latest episode of the EST podcast about how people are central to cyber resilience. He says it’s a business issue and not just a problem for the IT department. It is a topic that we will be covering at The Emergency Tech Show in September as Chris and the PDS team join us at the NEC in Birmingham.

Imagine a force unable to take 999 calls, access incident data, or deploy resources effectively. That scenario sits at the heart of why PDS has become central to cyber resilience in UK policing. Chris explains the setting for his work:

“When people talk about cyber, they assume it’s massively technical, and the reality is this is not a technical problem, this is a business or operational problem.

“Ultimately, what people want is their data in the right place at the right time, they want confidence that the data which needs to be secured, is secure, and that it hasn’t been tampered with. Those are the operational impacts that we’re trying to defend against.”

At the core of PDS’s cyber mission is the National Management Centre (NMC), a national-level capability that supports forces by monitoring, detecting, and helping to respond to cyber threats. Crucially, the NMC doesn’t operate as a remote, opaque monitoring unit. It is built on collaboration with individual forces. When suspicious activity is detected, whether that’s from a login from an unexpected location, unusual data flows, an odd pattern of user behaviour, the NMC engages directly with the affected force, explains what has been seen, and recommends concrete mitigation steps. Forces then act locally, supported by a national partner they have come to trust.

This model gives policing something most forces could not build or maintain alone. It is a sophisticated, 24/7 threat detection and advisory capability that scales nationally, but works locally. Over six years, that partnership approach has turned the NMC into an embedded part of how forces manage cyber risk.

From technical problem to operational risk

Chris says that rather than simply pushing tools and checklists, PDS looks at how cyber risk translates into frontline impact. Their work ranges from detecting threat actors probing police networks to spotting compromised user accounts or large‑scale phishing campaigns aimed at staff. The emphasis is always on operational impact and resilience, not just technical elegance.

PDS does not wait for the next big incident to appear on the front page. Within the NMC sits a proactive threat team that continuously scans the horizon. They work with organisations such as the National Cyber Security Centre, the Home Office and other government departments to understand new attack methods, indicators of compromise and emerging trends.

This intelligence is then turned into actionable guidance: weekly, monthly and ad‑hoc threat briefings to forces that not only describe the risk but spell out what to do about it. The aim is to move policing from a reactive stance to a more predictive posture, where forces can adjust controls before a threat fully materialises.

Culture, training and behaviour

PDS also recognises that technology alone cannot secure policing. Human error and behaviour are often the weakest link, as starkly illustrated by the PSNI data breach, where an FOI response accidentally exposed sensitive officer data. PDS was directly involved in the subsequent audit, reinforcing that layered controls across people, process and technology is essential.

To shift behaviour, PDS is working with forces to modernise cyber training. Generic, tick‑box e‑learning may satisfy compliance, but, as Chris notes, it “doesn’t shift the dial.” Instead, PDS is exploring training that reflects real policing contexts and uses frontline officers in materials so staff can see themselves in the scenarios. At the same time, PDS promotes a no‑blame, open culture, where staff feel safe to report mistakes quickly, closing off avenues for attackers before they can exploit them.

Securing the wider ecosystem

Modern policing relies on an extensive digital supply chain. PDS is tackling this systematically through Third Party Assurance for Policing (TPAP), a scheme that assesses whether key suppliers meet defined security standards. Assured suppliers are listed centrally, allowing forces to reuse that assurance instead of duplicating effort, while giving PDS visibility of which strategic vendors are widely used and must be engaged closely.

PDS also works closely with Blue Light Commercial on major procurements to ensure security is written into tenders and contracts from the outset. This is a critical step in ensuring suppliers meet policing’s expectations over the long term.

Beyond suppliers, PDS supports multi‑agency projects like the Emergency Services Network and advising other blue light and government partners. Its cyber specialists have been involved in planning and monitoring for major events including when the UK hosted Eurovision in Liverpool, integrating cyber resilience into operational exercises and real‑world deployments.

Looking ahead

The rise of AI, and tools like Anthropic’s Mythos, is reshaping the cyber landscape. PDS is exploring how AI can be used defensively, which means to identify vulnerabilities faster and to sift through hundreds of thousands of alerts so analysts can focus on genuine threats. This is underpinned by a commitment to responsible AI as emphasised by Al Murray when he spoke to me about Police AI in the first episode of this series, with strong assurance that tools do what policing needs.

With proposed police reforms and a move towards a National Police Service, PDS is set to become an even more integral part of policing’s digital ‘backbone.’ Fewer, larger forces have the potential to enable more consistent cyber practices and stronger shared capabilities.

In an era where a single data breach or ransomware attack can undermine public safety, Chris and his team at PDS are a quiet but critical enabler of cyber resilience across UK policing, turning the complex, fast‑moving threat landscape into manageable, operationally focused action.