Government Urges UK Businesses to Sign New Cyber Resilience Pledge

The UK Government is calling on businesses to sign the new Cyber Resilience Pledge and strengthen their cyber defences.

More than 60 businesses from across the British economy have signed the government's new Cyber Resilience Pledge, and ministers are encouraging more firms to follow their lead.

The Pledge launched at a Downing Street reception hosted by Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, and forms a central pillar of the government's forthcoming National Cyber Action Plan. It responds to a fast-growing threat: the National Cyber Security Centre recorded well over 200 nationally significant incidents in the past year, more than double the year before, with the average significant cyber-attack now costing a UK business close to £195,000. Ministers point to AI as a factor cutting both ways, giving defenders new tools while also making it easier for attackers to find and exploit weaknesses at scale.

The Pledge, designed with medium and large organisations in mind but open to businesses of any size, asks signatories to commit to three practical steps:

• Making cyber security a board-level responsibility, including completion of NCSC Cyber Governance Training

• Registering for the NCSC's free Early Warning service to flag suspicious network activity

• Taking a risk-based approach to requiring Cyber Essentials certification across their supply chain

Founding signatories span retail, financial services, media, utilities and technology, including M&S, Nationwide, ITV, Microsoft UK, Cloudflare, Deloitte, Accenture UK, Vodafone Group and VodafoneThree. More than 20 of the government's 39 strategic suppliers have also signed as part of a related Cyber Charter, alongside sector figures including techUK.

Government and business leaders framed the Pledge as a shift in how cyber risk is treated, moving it from an IT issue to a board-level and economy-wide responsibility, with resilient organisations better placed to protect customers, recover from incidents and reassure investors and partners.

UK organisations of any size can join the growing list of signatories by taking the Cyber Resilience Pledge.