What is the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) website?

Updated

ncsc.gov.uk is the official website of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, the UK's signals intelligence and cyber security agency. The site describes its mission as "making the UK the safest place to live and work online," and it serves as a public hub of cyber security guidance, incident-response resources, and threat information. It is aimed at individuals and families, small and medium organisations, large organisations, the public sector, cyber security professionals, and the self-employed.

Who the site is for

The homepage organises its guidance by audience, so you can go straight to material relevant to your situation:

Audience What the site offers
You & your family Practical advice such as recovering a hacked account, plus general online safety guidance
Small & medium organisations Advice on responding to cyber attacks and improving resilience
Large organisations Incident-response guidance and frameworks for larger operations
Public sector Guidance for organisations delivering essential functions
Cyber security professionals Technical guidance, including configuration recommendations
Self employed & sole traders Support for responding to scams and attacks

What you can find on the site

Advice and guidance

The "Advice & guidance" section is the core of the site. Notable resources include:

  • Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) — a collection of cyber security guidance for organisations that play a vital role in UK daily life, focused on essential functions.
  • Cyber Essentials — a scheme to help businesses protect themselves against the most common cyber threats.
  • Cyber security training for school staff — a training package to improve a school's cyber resilience.
  • Frontier AI guidance — information on preparing for the enhanced capabilities of AI-powered attacks.

Responding to a cyber attack

A dedicated "Respond to a cyber attack" area provides recovery resources for individuals and organisations. The site separates this by scale — sole traders and small organisations, medium to large organisations, and individuals — so you can find advice matched to your circumstances.

News, blogs, and threat advisories

The site publishes current material, including blog posts (for example, recommendations for configuring post-quantum cryptography in TLS) and joint international advisories on malicious actors targeting sensitive data. It also occasionally invites input, such as research into how organisations approach external attack surface risk (EASM).

Finding products and services

A "Find a product or service" navigation entry points to listings of cyber security products and services, useful if you are evaluating suppliers.

How to use it

  1. Identify your audience category on the homepage ("Find guidance and resources for…") to filter to relevant content.
  2. If you have experienced an attack, go to the "Respond to a cyber attack" section and choose the path matching your size or situation.
  3. For baseline protection, start with Cyber Essentials; for essential-function organisations, review the CAF.
  4. Check the blog and news for current threat advisories and updated technical guidance.

The site also offers a subscription option (linked as "Subscribe" in its navigation), which is the way to receive updates directly.

What it is not

The NCSC site is a guidance and information resource, not a commercial service. It does not present itself as a paid product, and no pricing is stated on the pages reviewed. For a specific incident, the site directs you to resources to help you recover rather than acting as an emergency response service itself.