Speaking at the FT LIVE Cyber Resilience Summit Europe event in London this morning, Jarvis said the end goal was “deterring malicious actors” that are rising in prevalence across the “ever-expanding threat landscape”.

The security minister announced in his speech that the UK government has reached a “massive milestone” with BT. Together with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the government has collaborated with experts on a protective tool that shares data on malicious domains and early-stage cyberattacks with internet service providers (ISPs), including BT.

The tool blocks threats and thereby protects millions of customers from harm.

“That door has been slammed shut on the criminals … all thanks to BT and NCSC blocking access to fraudulent websites,” Jarvis explained. “This work only demonstrates the constant threat we are all under, which means the government must continue to strengthen our defences to protect people.”

How the UK intends to be more cyber resilient

The UK government has already committed to the National Cyber Action Plan, with Jarvis acknowledging previous criticism of the 2022 National Cyber Strategy that was published.

“It was too long and unclear about the government’s actions to stop cyberattacks,” Jarvis noted. “Following this year’s attacks, there could be no doubt about the actions of this government, and that’s why we are publishing a National Cyber Action Plan, which will have defined roles and tasks for everyone involved to stay cyber secure.”

The Plan has been designed to be business-first, written for all businesses and written in partnership with businesses – with the government having consulted more than 400 individual firms across business and critical national infrastructure.

“The action plan will set clear expectations for businesses, tailored to companies of all sizes and sectors,” Jarvis said. “It will be a crucial part of our mission to make the UK the hardest possible target for cyber criminals to operate.

“I want to send a clear message to cyber criminals: We are coming for you. Every day, we are finding out more about who you are, and we will hunt you down and we will bring you to justice.”

“Working with businesses, rather than against them”

The cyber threat landscape has continued to intensify in recent years, with a deluge of attacks impacting critical sectors like healthcare and telecoms. Particularly in the UK, cyber incidents at supermarkets M&S and the Co-op for instance caused national upset and have impacted not only business prosperity, but the economy too.

Jarvis makes it clear in his keynote speech that, without security, commercial hubs like the City of London will struggle.

“Today, it’s less about brick walls and more about firewalls,” he said. “Hybrid threats from state and non-state actors have become the norm, blurring the line between war and peace. Cybercrime … is an ever-expanding threat landscape.

“If it were a national economy, cybercrime would be the third largest in the world. Some experts have claimed that online scams are set to cost the world US$27 billion a year by 2027.”

To mitigate increasing threats, the UK government said it is changing the way the government protects national security. This was reflected through Jarvis’ appointment to Cabinet Office in September 2025 and he said he is eager to emphasise the importance of a coordinated response to cyber criminals.

Likewise, the recently announced Cyber Security and Resilience Bill was introduced to parliament and is designed to ensure businesses work with cyber experts to ensure UK security infrastructure is as strong as possible.

“This work is not the responsibility of government alone. We need a whole-of-society approach,” Jarvis said this morning. “We can only create prosperity and security through partnership, which is why the government and business are working together to bolster our security.”

He added: “Cybersecurity keeps us safe and is a key enabler of growth … our businesses and their key infrastructure deserve better support.”

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Image credit: UK Parliament