The government recently announced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. It's a significant step in how the UK protects its critical infrastructure. Water, energy, healthcare, IT networks. The systems we all rely on every day.
The message from the National Cyber Security Centre is clear. The gap between the threats facing critical systems and our ability to defend them is widening. The time to act is now.
The NCSC has published the Cyber Assessment Framework, known as the CAF, to help organisations assess their cyber security posture. It's designed for operators of essential services, critical national infrastructure, and anyone managing cyber risks to public safety.
The framework is built around four objectives. Managing security risk. Protecting against cyber attacks. Detecting security events. And minimising the impact when incidents do happen.
Under these sit 14 principles and 39 contributing outcomes. It sounds like a lot, but the CAF is deliberately outcome-focused rather than a tick-box exercise. The idea is to understand where you stand, identify gaps, and build a roadmap for improvement.
What makes the CAF useful is its flexibility. It's sector-agnostic. Whether you're in healthcare, utilities, finance, or local government, the same principles apply. You assess against them in a way that makes sense for your organisation and the risks you face.
The Bill and the CAF are aimed at essential services and critical infrastructure. But the underlying principles apply to any organisation that takes security seriously.
Supply chain security is a big theme. If you're a software supplier working with public sector clients, or hoping to, your security practices matter to them. They need confidence that the systems you build won't become a weak link in their defences.
This isn't just about ticking compliance boxes. It's about building trust.
We're a small consultancy, not a critical infrastructure operator. But we build software for organisations who care deeply about security. That means we have to care about it too.
We hold Cyber Essentials certification. It's the baseline, but it matters. It shows we've taken the time to get the fundamentals right. Access controls, secure configuration, patch management. The things that stop most common attacks.
Our infrastructure runs on platforms with SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance. We don't store client data on laptops or random servers. Everything sits in environments built to meet strict security standards.
Code reviews are standard on every project. Not optional, not occasional. Every change gets a second pair of eyes before it goes anywhere near production. Our CI/CD pipelines enforce this automatically.
We use strict access controls. Team members only have access to what they need for their current work. When a project ends, access gets revoked. Simple discipline, but it matters.
When we build MVPs or full products for clients, we think about where that software will eventually live. If it needs to operate in a secure environment, we design for that from the start. Authentication, data handling, audit logging. These aren't afterthoughts bolted on at the end.
We've spent time understanding frameworks like the CAF. Not because we're assessed against it ourselves, but because our clients might be. Knowing what good looks like helps us build software that fits into security-conscious organisations without friction.
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is part of a broader shift. Regulation is tightening. Expectations are rising. Organisations that handle sensitive data or provide essential services will face more scrutiny, not less.
For software suppliers, this is an opportunity. Organisations need partners who understand this landscape. Who can build systems that meet security requirements without slowing everything down.
That's what we aim to be. A consultancy that takes security seriously, builds on solid foundations, and helps clients navigate an increasingly complex environment.
If you're thinking about how your software development fits into this picture, we're always happy to talk.
