About us - National Cyber Force
The National Cyber Force conducts offensive cyber effects operations to make it harder for our adversaries to maliciously exploit technology to harm the UK.
What is the National Cyber Force?
The National Cyber Force (NCF) is a dynamic partnership between UK Defence and Intelligence.
We were established in 2020 to protect the UK’s national security by delivering offensive cyber effects operations in and through cyberspace.
We bring together personnel drawn from our four partner agencies, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) under one unified command.
Our partnership combines MOD’s operational planning and expertise, Dstl’s scientific and technical capabilities, GCHQ’s global intelligence and SIS’s skills in recruiting and running agents, alongside delivering undercover operational, intelligence and security experience.
NCF’s unique mix provides the UK with the diversity of skills needed to better confront a growing range of threats.
National Cyber Force structure
The National Cyber Force is led by a single Commander and supported by a Deputy Commander. Because National Cyber Force is a partnership between defence and intelligence, our Commander reports jointly to General Sir Rob Magowan, Commander of the MOD Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) and Anne Keast-Butler, Director GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence, cyber, and security agency.
Our people
Although the existence of the National Cyber Force is not a secret, its people are, so we do not share details about our workforce to safeguard their identities. The only time we confirm someone’s identity who works in National Cyber Force is when we have acknowledged their association publicly.
Our locations
We are based at multiple sites across the UK, and our HQ is based in Samlesbury in Lancashire. Here we are ideally placed to support the development of the North West Cyber Corridor.
The North West Cyber Corridor is a major hub for cyber security excellence which runs from Manchester to Lancaster. National Cyber Force’s move to Samlesbury supports the government’s ambition for the North West to become a thriving, regional cyber security and innovation region.
We work closely with the Lancashire Cyber Partnership and with industry and academia to increase awareness of opportunities, upskill our potential future workforce in both tech and life skills, and inspire talented individuals in Lancashire to consider a career in defence, intelligence and national security.
Why the UK needs a National Cyber Force
The National Cyber Force provides options that use the UK’s cyber capabilities to achieve national security objectives and maintain strategic advantage.
It is one of a range of levers the UK uses to tackle security threats. Other levers include law enforcement, economic sanctions, diplomatic intervention, and military activity.
Criminals, terrorists, and state threats are accelerating their efforts to find new ways to exploit our dependence on technology to cause us maximum harm and disruption. We call these hostile actors. The National Cyber Force’s role is to make it harder for adversaries to use cyberspace and digital technologies to achieve their ends.
To protect our critical infrastructure, military, national security, and economic wellbeing, we must confront and challenge aggressive cyber behaviour and shape the operating environment in ways that put our adversaries on the back foot.
This includes carrying out responsible offensive cyber effects operations, whilst building the UK’s resilience to hostile cyber activity at the same time.
How the National Cyber Force protects the UK
Hostile actors are actively exploiting cyberspace to find new ways to use the technologies we rely on against us.
To protect the British people and our country’s interests, the National Cyber Force conducts responsible offensive cyber effects operations. We aim to change adversary behaviour by exploiting their own reliance on digital technology.
Our operational aims can include, preventing the target from carrying out their activities, or undermining their confidence to do so. We know, from operational experience, reducing functionality and effectiveness over time can often have the greatest effect.
The National Cyber Force’s complex operations are precisely targeted with specific effects. The target of the operation might not realise the technical effect they are experiencing is because of our action.
We do not publicly confirm what happens in our operations. To do so undermines the benefits of ambiguity and risks enabling adversaries to develop better defences, making them less effective.
Examples of National Cyber Force offensive cyber operations
The National Cyber Force confronts and disrupts adversary activity by conducting responsible daily offensive cyber effects operations to:
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protect military deployments overseas
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disrupt terrorist groups
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counter sophisticated and continuous cyber threats
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counter hostile state disinformation campaigns, designed to gain influence or cause harm
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reduce the threat of external interference in democratic elections and
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remove child sexual abuse material from public spaces online.
The National Cyber Force’s operations are legally compliant and authorised. Read more about the laws NCF work under on our Governance page.
National Cyber Force partnerships
We support the Cyber & Specialist Operations Command
The Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) is part of the Ministry of Defence. It is the UK’s fourth military command alongside the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force and reflects the shifts that have taken place in modern defence.
Recent conflicts show the first blows of modern warfare are struck in cyberspace, long before the first shots or rockets are fired in the physical world. That’s why the UK must defend cyberspace in the same way we defend land, sea, air, and space.
National Cyber Force provides CSOC with expertise to support the UK’s capability to do this. National Cyber Force works closely with the command responsible for coordinating Defence demand for offensive cyber operations. This command is called the Defence Cyber & Electromagnetic Force (DCEMF) and it sits within CSOC.
We support UK law enforcement
National Cyber Force works closely with the National Crime Agency (NCA) to support their operational goals.
The NCA leads the UK fight against serious and organised crime and coordinates the UK law enforcement response to child online sexual abuse, and serious and organised crime gangs.
Online child sexual abuse is increasing year on year, and the National Cyber Force works with NCA to help protect children. We do this by disrupting criminal activity and making the internet a difficult environment for perpetrators to operate in and profit from.
Technology has made it easier for organised crime gangs to use cyberspace to generate and transfer income and conceal their identity and location. The National Cyber Force works with NCA to counter serious online criminal activity to reduce its impact, size, and scale.
We support the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
The National Cyber Force works with National Cyber Security Centre to protect and defend cyberspace to ensure every part is contested and the UK is kept safe. National Cyber Force activity supports the UK’s cyber security by countering serious threats in cyberspace, whilst NCSC builds UK cyber resilience to them. Working together we protect the UK from modern threats.
We work with international partners
The National Cyber Force works with international partners and allies, including NATO to promote and foster rule-based order, agreement and cooperation in cyberspace.
We work with industry and academia
Cyberspace is a dynamic and rapidly changing environment. To keep pace with the evolving threat landscape the National Cyber Force works with industry and academia.
An example of how we are working with research and academia is our sponsorship of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Cyber Effects Network. The network brings together representatives from industry, academia and government to share their perspectives and develop thinking on offensive cyber. Through the Cyber Effects Network, a UK-based community of interest has been built to explore how cyber effects are best utilised.
As part of our ongoing efforts to grow the cyber ecosystem and build a world class force, the National Cyber Force has been actively engaged for several years with the Lancashire Cyber Partnership and the North West Cyber Corridor, and bursary and direct entry schemes. Our outreach teams work closely with universities, schools and colleges to support employability and digital skills development, foster interest and inspire the next generation of talent.