ICO signs MoU to address UK cyber threats

The agreement will allow the two organisations to share technical information from cyber incident investigations where appropriate and related to cybercrime and fraud. No personal data would be shared because of the MoU.

Information and intelligence on cyber threats, risks and trends will also be shared between the two organisations, and joint research and studies between the GCA and ICO could also take place.

The GCA, which was set up in 2015, is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing cyber risk. It founded Quad9, a global protective domain name system (DNS) service that blocks an average of 60 million malicious domains a day.

Steve Eckersley, director of investigations at the ICO, said: “With cyberattacks on the increase on a global scale, there needs to be a more collaborative approach to tackling them.

“We therefore look forward to expanding the range of agencies we already have arrangements with and working with the GCA to share and exchange information to achieve our common goal to reduce UK cybercrime, reduce cyber risk and improve cyber security.”

Andy Bates, executive director, UK, Middle East and India at the GCA, said: “GCA looks forward to collaboration with the ICO. This MoU is further proof of the UK regulator’s commitment to protect its citizens from cybercrime and other cyber threats.”