The Home Office has launched new protections for data centres, public services and other critical national infrastructure as it seeks to crack down on rising online threats.
The government has identified cyber crime as one of the most consistently damaging challenges to businesses and public services.
According to the Home Office, the risk has grown in recent years amid a rise in hostile action from Russian affiliated criminal gangs.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) managed 430 cyber incidents between September 2023 and August 2024, including 13 ransomware incidents which were deemed to be nationally significant and posed serious harm to essential services or the wider economy.
These proposals include banning all public sector bodies and critical national infrastructure from making ransomware payments to make them unattractive targets for criminals, as well as making it mandatory to report ransomware incidents in order to give greater intelligence.
“Driving down cybercrime is central to this government’s missions to reduce crime, deliver growth, and keep the British people safe,” said Security Minister Dan Jarvis.
“Today marks the beginning of a vital step forward to protect the UK economy and keep businesses and jobs safe.”
The government has said the proposals will help it deliver on its Plan for Change by protecting the public services and infrastructure which people rely on from disruption and huge costs.
Richard Horne, National Cyber Security Centre CEO, added: “This consultation marks a vital step in our efforts to protect the UK from the crippling effects of ransomware attacks and the associated economic and societal costs.
“Organisations of all sizes need to build their defences against cyber attacks such as ransomware, and our website contains a wealth of advice tailored to different organisations.”