United Kingdom Cybersecurity Market

The rapid development of digitalized services and online shopping in the UK has been paralleled with significant growth in cybercrime, leading to greater spending on security in public and private sectors. Organizations’ IT footprints have also become increasingly complex, driving demand for more sophisticated and bespoke cyber solutions.

Major growth drivers in the UK cybersecurity market include:

Levels of cyber criminality continue to increase in quantity and sophistication and lead to a higher awareness of this issue;
Cyber security as a strategic issue discussed in the boardroom and undoubtedly grabbing the full attention of management;
The need to comply with regulations such as GDPR;
The rapid adoption of the cloud is increasing the pressure on borderless IT infrastructure security issues;
New technology trends open up markets for innovative cyber products in different fields, such as IoT, analytics, machine learning, AI, etc.

Driven by the factors listed above, the $7 billion cyber market is forecasted to grow at over 9% CAGR. At the same time, U.S. companies and technologies are exceptionally well perceived in the region and many U.S. cyber tech provider operate successfully in the UK. There are currently over 800 firms actively providing cyber security products or services in the UK.

Opportunities exist to supply organizations of all sizes from SME to large corporations:

Large Enterprises: The most substantial opportunities are to be found in organizations for which IT security is mission critical, e.g. major financial institutions, utilities, national infrastructure and government departments (see below);
Public Sector: Central and local government are investing heavily in securing their citizens data, as well as moving more and more services online;
Defense and Security: This is a relatively niche market, focused on securing the nation’s secrets; involving the security and intelligence agencies, as well as the Ministry of Defence;
Small and Medium sized Businesses: Many small businesses are not well protected and are seen as an easy target for cyber criminals. The government is encouraging SMEs to adopt basic cyber hygiene standards and indeed some public procurement contracts stipulate minimum cyber requirements for supply chains.

The largest market segments include: Software Infrastructure; Identity & Access Management; Data & Application; and Governance, Risk, Compliance. When looking at getting involved in the UK cybersecurity market, U.S. companies should engage with key stakeholders and trade associations.

National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC): part of GCHQ, it acts as a bridge between industry and government, providing a unified source of advice, guidance and support on cyber security, including the management of cyber security incidents.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS): this ministerial department has cyber in its portfolio.

The Information Commissioner’s Office Home | ICO: a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is the independent regulatory office dealing with the Data Protection Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Other resources are techUK: the UK’s technology trade association and Digital Catapult: the UK’s leading advanced digital technology innovation center.

The UK is also home to the largest cybersecurity event in Europe, Infosecurity Europe. At the event over 400 exhibitors, including over 120 U.S. companies, showcase the latest information security solutions and products to over 19,500 industry professionals.

For more information contact Claudia.Colombo@trade.gov.

04/21/2021