NCSC Cyber Vitals Checklist

Background

All organisations can be potential targets for a cyber-attack and by recognising an increased threat and reacting to it, organisations can bolster their defences, accentuate key cyber security tasks and help to reduce your vulnerability to an attack or the impact on your organisation should an attack occur.

In today’s fast-paced and dynamic digital environment we can expect to see regular fluctuations in the cyber threat landscape. Organisations should be aware of these changes so that at times of heightened cyber threat they can ensure their key security controls are operating effectively.

There are many factors that may influence an increased change in the threat level. These can include a deteriorating geopolitical situation, the widespread exploitation of discovered vulnerabilities, cybercriminal operations increasing their capabilities or an uplift in malicious cyber-attacks. Organisations need to know what actions they can take during a heightened threat to reduce any vulnerabilities they may have to an attack.

The cyber vitals checklist has been produced by the NCSC to ensure that organisations can check their critical cyber controls are implemented and working correctly. In order to ensure that efforts are prioritised to the most important areas during a heightened threat level, consider delaying significant system changes which are not security related.