In the NHS, the cyber threat is ever present, and David Willis from our Digital Transformation team has been supporting the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) in the role of Acting Senior Information Security Officer to tackle the bigger issues as the integration of health and care and use of connected medical devices intensifies the risk

At a recent cyber security conference by the UKAuthority, David spoke about the strategies being deployed to increase resilience. There may be a growing number of cyber security tools on the market, but the structure and processes around how they are used are just as essential in tackling the threat. Resilience depends as much on organisations and people as it does on technology. What’s essential is to be clear on the role it plays.

“It’s a big ask, but the more you begin to understand what happens if it fails the more you will be able to explain need for your role,” Willis said.

Alongside colleague Emma Velle, Cyber Security Specialist at Cisco, the pair presented the ICS’s approach for cyber security involving four key steps. First is to get full visibility of the cyber risk at the local organisational level, and second to develop a solution for responding to incidents in real time. Third is to understand the capacity, capability and sustainability of the teams involved, and fourth to stage a series of regional events for digital emergency planning, resilience and response.

Watch a recording and read more in Emma’s article for the UKAuthority website.