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National Cyber Security Centre handles 590 'significant incidents' in first year


The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) handled 590 "significant incidents" in the first year of its operation, according to a new report published by the organisation.

The NCSC became operational in October 2016. It was set up to lead the UK's approach to managing cyber risk and coordinate the response to major cyber incidents.

According to the first annual review of the NCSC's work, the body received 1,131 cyber incident reports in the last year. It said 590 of those incidents were classed as "significant" and more than 30 were "assessed as being sufficiently serious to require a cross-government response process", which the NCSC coordinated.

The review said: "Crucial to our response is the partnership between the NCSC and law enforcement, including the National Crime Agency (NCA). Our objective being to provide victims with a joined-up reporting and response service that harnesses our complementary capabilities."

"Reporting from victims, either in government or private sectors, allows us not only to investigate incidents, but also to identify attackers and further affected parties. For the most serious attacks, we provide direct assistance to organisations," it said. 

Among the cases that the NCSC responded to were the WannaCry ransomware attack and a cyber attack on the UK parliament in June.

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