The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (the Integrated Review) makes clear that the UK’s ambition is to be a leading, democratic cyber power in an increasingly contested domain. Sustaining a competitive edge in cyber, through advancements in science and technology, and the skills needed to use them, is fundamental to achieving strategic advantage.

State sponsored terrorism has a long and ugly history but not one usually associated with European states. That all changed on Sunday 23 May when Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius was diverted to the Belarus capital Minsk.

On 29 April 2021, the UK’s new Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act was granted Royal Assent.

In the last year, as the country’s collective consciousness has understandably been focused upon the Covid-19 pandemic, the officers and staff of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) have quietly continued the 24/7 work of protecting the UK from another serious threat.
Whilst lockdowns, death tolls and vaccinations have somewhat dominated headlines, the UK has continued to face a terror threat that hasn’t dipped below SUBSTANTIAL during the last year, meaning an attack is likely.

David Townsend, Event Director of the Counter Terror Expo, gives his thoughts on the proposed Protect Duty legislation

The number of cyber-attacks on companies, governments and individuals has been consistently rising in recent years, with global ransomware attacks increasing significantly in 2020, up 485 per cent compared to 2019. Tackling cyber security and protecting key critical infrastructure is key to national security, and the quick pivot to remote working during the Covid pandemic has seen even the most prepared organisations face new security challenges, with cyber criminals quick to take advantage.

Concerns about extremism and radicalisation, and what can be done about them, are very much to the fore in policy circles at present. The government has recently re-started the Independent Review of Prevent (the UK’s counter-radicalisation policy), and work has also begun on an Independent review, led by Lord Walney, the government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption, into far-right and far-left extremism in the United Kingdom.

We have ‘terrorism on the brain’ and vested interests are using any excuse to label all acts of violence committed by any group as terrorist, writes Phil Gurski
Our continued difficulty in defining what terrorism is and what it is not is not helpful.

Public protection, the protection of all visiting or working in a public accessible location, whether a stadium, an arena, a place of worship or a shopping centre, to list just a few examples, has always been the number one priority of effective service providers.
The upcoming Protect Duty - Martyn’s Law - will move public protection from good practice to being legally binding. In future no employer or service provider has a choice. Protection and preparedness to deal with a terrorist attack will become a legal requirement.

Iain Moran explains for Counter Terror Business how the coronavirus pandemic has changed the future of the high street