UK Space Agency invests in cyber resilience
January 6, 2026
By Chris Forrester
The UK Space Agency says it has earmarked £210 million (€242.8m) to strengthen cyber resilience across the UK’s Government Cyber Unit to coordinate risk management and incident response across departments. The aim for these new measures is to make online public services more secure and resilient, so people can use them with confidence – whether applying for benefits, paying taxes or accessing healthcare, says the Agency.
The Government Cyber Action Plan, published on January 6th, sets out how government will rise to meet the growing range of online threats. Driven by a new Government Cyber Unit, the plan will rapidly improve cyber defences and digital resilience across government departments and the wider public sector, so people can trust that their data and services are protected.
The Agency says the investment underpins UK Government plans to digitise public services. “This will make more services accessible online, reduce time spent on phone queues and paperwork, and enable citizens to access support without repeating information across multiple departments. This approach could unlock up to £45 billion in productivity savings by using technology effectively across the public sector,” said the Agency.
Digital Government Minister, Ian Murray, commented: “Cyber-attacks can take vital public services offline in minutes – disrupting our digital services and our very way of life. This plan sets a new bar to bolster the defences of our public sector, putting cyber-criminals on warning that we are going further and faster to protect the UK’s businesses and public services alike. This is how we keep people safe, services running, and build a government the public can trust in the digital age.”
A new Software Security Ambassador Scheme will now help drive adoption of the Software Security Code of Practice – a voluntary project designed to reduce software supply chain attacks and disruption.
The Agency added: “Software underpins the economy as a core component of all technologies that businesses rely on. Yet weaknesses in software can cause severe disruption to supply chains and the essential services the public use every day with more than half (59 per cent) of organisations experiencing software supply chain attacks in the past year. These issues can be addressed by embedding basic software security practices across the software market. Among others, Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Sage, Santander and NCC Group will come on board as the scheme’s ambassadors, championing the Code across sectors, showcasing practical implementation, and providing feedback to inform future policy improvements.”