The UK government has unveiled the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, a landmark move to strengthen UK cyber defences across essential public services, including healthcare, transport, water, and energy. The legislation aims to shield the nation’s critical national infrastructure from increasingly complex cyberattacks, which have cost the UK economy nearly £15 billion annually.
According to the latest Cyble report — “Europe’s Threat Landscape: What 2025 Exposed and Why 2026 Could Be Worse”, Europe witnessed over 2,700 cyber incidents in 2025 across sectors such as BFSI, Government, Retail, and Energy.
The report highlights how ransomware groups and politically motivated hacktivists have reshaped the regional threat landscape, emphasizing the urgency of unified cyber resilience strategies.
Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to Protect Critical National Infrastructure
At the heart of the new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is the protection of vital services that people rely on daily. The legislation will ensure hospitals, water suppliers, and transport operators are equipped with stronger cyber resilience capabilities to prevent service disruptions and mitigate risks from future attacks.
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will, for the first time, regulate medium and large managed service providers offering IT, cybersecurity, and digital support to organisations like the NHS. These providers will be required to report significant incidents promptly and maintain contingency plans for rapid recovery.
Regulators will also gain authority to designate critical suppliers — such as diagnostic service providers or energy suppliers — and enforce minimum security standards to close supply chain gaps that cybercriminals could exploit.
To strengthen compliance, enforcement will be modernised with turnover-based penalties for serious violations, ensuring cybersecurity remains a non-negotiable priority. The Technology Secretary will also have powers to direct organisations, including NHS Trusts and utilities, to take urgent actions to mitigate threats to national security.
UK Cyber Defences Face Mounting Pressure Amid Rising Attacks
Recent data shows the average cost of a significant cyberattack in the UK now exceeds £190,000, amounting to nearly £14.7 billion in total annual losses. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warns that a large-scale attack on critical national infrastructure could push borrowing up by £30 billion, equivalent to 1.1% of GDP.
These findings align closely with Cyble’s Europe’s Threat Landscape report, which observed the rise of new ransomware groups like Qilin and Akira and a surge in pro-Russian hacktivism targeting European institutions through DDoS and defacement campaigns. The report also revealed that the retail sector accounted for 41% of all compromised access sales, demonstrating the widespread impact of evolving cybercrime tactics.
Both the government and industry experts agree that defending against these threats requires a unified approach. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) CEO Dr. Richard Horne emphasised that “the real-world impacts of cyberattacks have never been more evident,” calling the Bill “a crucial step in protecting our most critical services.”
Building a Secure and Resilient Future
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill represent a major shift in how the UK safeguards its people, economy, and digital ecosystem. By tightening cyber regulations for essential and digital services, the government seeks to reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen the UK’s cyber resilience posture for the years ahead.
Industry leaders have welcomed the legislation. Darktrace CEO Jill Popelka praised the government’s initiative to modernise cyber laws in an era where attackers are leveraging AI-driven tools. Cisco UK’s CEO Sarah Walker also noted that only 8% of UK organisations are currently “mature” in their cybersecurity readiness, highlighting the importance of continuous improvement.
Meanwhile, the Cyble report on Europe’s Threat Landscape warns that as state-backed operations merge with financially motivated attacks, 2026 could bring even more volatility. Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs recommend that organisations adopt intelligence-led defence strategies and proactive threat monitoring to stay ahead of emerging adversaries.
The Road Ahead
Both the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill and Cyble’s Europe’s Threat Landscape findings serve as a wake-up call: the UK and Europe are facing a new era of persistent cyber risks. Strengthening collaboration between government, regulators, and private industry will be key to securing critical systems and ensuring operational continuity.
Organizations can explore deeper insights and practical recommendations from Cyble’s Europe’s Threat Landscape: What 2025 Exposed — and Why 2026 Could Be Worse report here, which provides detailed sectoral analysis and strategies to build a stronger, more resilient future against cyber threats.
