Understanding how people behave, both individually and in groups, is a central research theme for the Socio-Technical Research Group, RISCS’ partner in the NCSC. But this is mostly focused on those people whose intentions are non-malicious and who simply want to do a good job.

As we digitise and connect more of our products and services, we need to ensure that cyber security remains inclusive and that everyone is more secure. This theme will include existing research areas such as digital inclusion, digital disadvantage, digital accessibility, and trust, through a cyber security lens.

Cyber security is central to the health and resilience of any organisation and this places it firmly within the responsibility of the Board. But it also means that enabling and facilitating good cyber security practices spans the whole of an organisation and is not simply the remit of the IT or technical teams.

Secure by Design is extremely high on HMG’s list of priorities, whether that is to facilitate secure by default IoT commodity products for the consumer or reducing online harm by ensuring that companies have the right processes and systems in place to fulfil their obligations.

How we, as individuals, organisations, and societies across different time periods, have approached thinking about the future has varied greatly. Today, when we think about predicting the future, we can easily dismiss it as the realm of crystal balls.