In today’s contested and volatile world, threats to the UK’s security and our prosperity are increasingly interconnected.
The most significant impact of the illegal invasion of Ukraine has of course been the awful human cost; the ripples have been felt here in various ways, including when gas prices soared.
State actors have also made aggressive and well-documented attempts to steal UK advantage, including through cyber attacks and penetration of supply chains.
As highlighted in today’s annual threat briefing, these states are not just going after government and military secrets – British businesses have become a target too.
Whether it’s the theft of intellectual property from innovative tech firms or the deployment of advanced cyber capabilities to infiltrate our most profitable companies, some states seek to undermine our security and our economy to their advantage.
This is not a threat that can be dealt with by our government and security services alone. Raising our national resilience is a shared responsibility, and one that’s ultimately in everyone’s interest.
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) was set up last year, as a part of MI5, to work hand-in-glove with businesses, academia and other organisations to grow the UK’s resilience to state threats, alongside existing work on counter-terrorism measures.
NPSA provides practical steps companies can take to bolster their defences, and by doing so protect what matters most to them and to our nation. Their advice is derived from a world-leading research and development programme, and informed by MI5’s expert understanding of the threat.
We urge businesses large and small to engage with NPSA’s website, and the National Cyber Security Centre’s. Talk with your security teams. Report concerns. Secure your products, your partnerships and your growth to safeguard your hard-won advantage and thrive in UK and overseas markets.
While businesses should not be unduly concerned, one theme highlighted in the threat briefing is that of sabotage. It might sound like a Cold War-era manoeuvre, but while the war in Ukraine grinds on, we have seen Russian state-sponsored sabotage attempts targeting European – including UK – businesses, with arson a prevalent, but not the only, tactic.
These operations directly target businesses: stock, premises, consumer confidence. In the most severe circumstances, they can risk lives.
We want to jointly raise resilience to this threat. We urge businesses – particularly those in the arms, logistics and transport fields, and with an international footprint – to think hard about the sabotage risk you might be facing.
Seek out the NPSA sabotage guidance, informed by intelligence and available on the NPSA website. Update your security procedures, upskill your people and revise your response plan to take account of this threat.
Let’s ensure that it leads to increased collaboration: between government, the security services and businesses.
We’ve done this before. The visible and invisible protective security measures developed jointly between business and government to protect us from decades of terrorist threat have saved countless lives and protected companies’ bottom lines.
UK businesses are also experienced in working with a wide range of partners to recognise and respond to organised criminal activity. Adapting to this evolving threat from states builds on a powerful foundation of collaboration.
The UK must and will continue to be a beacon of free trade, global commerce, and of the rules-based international order. So this is about ensuring that, when engaging globally, British businesses have full knowledge of the opportunities and risks involved – and as a result make well-informed, sustainable decisions that safeguard the significant benefits such engagement can bring.
The security threats facing the UK are broader and more complex than at any time either of us can remember. But they are not insurmountable.
All the attributes that allow British businesses to punch above their weight on the world stage – our values, our outstanding talent, our ingenuity – mean we are well-placed as a nation to take proportionate, reasonable steps to raise our resilience and protect our security, and in doing so our prosperity.
It’s a team effort, and everyone can play a part.
Ken McCallum is Director General of MI5 and Rain Newton-Smith is the Chief Executive of CBI