UK Cyber Security and Resilience Bill: What It Means for Your Business and How to Get Ahead

Question 2 of 10 in our You ask, We Answer Cyber Resilience series - Your Biggest Cyber Security Concerns Answered

So, this new Cyber Bill... what does it actually mean for us?

We've been getting this question with increasing urgency. And look, we get it, "more regulation" is rarely exciting. But here's the thing: this one's different, and it's probably going to affect you.

Unlike previous cyber regulations that mostly targeted critical infrastructure, this Bill casts a much wider net. If you're a managed IT service provider, operate a data centre, or supply services to larger organisations, you need to pay attention.

Here's what's driving the urgency:

• The Bill's working through Parliament right now
• 24-hour initial incident reporting is coming (tighter than the EU's NIS2)
• Regulators are getting beefed-up enforcement powers, including turnover-based fines
• Supply chain obligations mean the ripple effects will hit SMEs
• Your customers are already asking questions about compliance readiness

So if you're asking this question, you're ahead of the curve. The time to prepare is now, not when enforcement starts.

The Real Question Behind the Question

When people ask us about the Cyber Bill, what they're really asking is:

"How much work is this going to be? How much will it cost, and what happens if we don't do it? Will this affect our ability to win contracts?"

Fair questions. Boards are nervous about costs, IT teams are stretched, and nobody wants to be scrambling when enforcement begins.

The good news? If you've been doing security properly already, you're probably closer than you think.

What's Actually Changing? (The Important Bits)

1. Who's Now In Scope

This isn't a blanket "all MSPs are regulated" situation:

Medium and Large MSPs: Around 900-1,100 will be directly regulated. An MSP is defined as providing ongoing IT system management or monitoring, requiring network access to customer systems.

What about BPO services? The definition is still being finalised. If you provide HR, payroll, finance, or other business process outsourcing that involves network access to customer systems or managing their IT infrastructure, monitor guidance carefully. When in doubt, assume you might be caught.

Designated Critical Suppliers (DCS): Regulators can designate any supplier as a DCS if your services are critical to regulated entities. Even small MSPs could be pulled in.

Digital Service Providers: Cloud computing, data centres, online marketplaces – size doesn't always exempt you.

Supply chain ripple effect: If you supply any of the above, expect new contractual requirements.

• 24 hours for initial notification
• 72 hours for a fuller report
• Report to both NCSC and your sector regulator
  
  

If you can't detect incidents quickly, you can't report them quickly.

3. Stronger Enforcement

• Audits and inspections with cost recovery
• Daily fines for ignoring directives
• Turnover-based penalties (think GDPR-style fines)
  
  

The exact penalties are still being finalised, but this needs to be on your risk register.

4. The CAF Benchmark

The NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework is becoming the expected standard. Not yet mandatory for everyone, but it's what customers will increasingly expect.

5. Supply Chain Obligations

What was previously voluntary due diligence is becoming a legal obligation for your customers, which becomes your commercial requirement.

How This Really Affects You

If you're a medium/large MSP or digital service provider: You're likely in scope. Compliance will be mandatory.

If you're a smaller MSP, you could be designated as a DCS if your services are critical to regulated entities.

If you supply in-scope organisations, expect new contractual requirements, certification requests, and proof of security controls. Being Bill-ready becomes a must-have for keeping contracts.

The competitive advantage: By mid-2026, tender processes will include compliance requirements. Start now and you'll be ready whilst competitors are scrambling.

What You Should Do Now

This Year (The Immediate Actions)

Assign responsibility: Nominate someone senior to own the cyber risk and Bill preparation. Make cyber a board-level priority.

Run a gap analysis: Map your current security against NCSC CAF and Cyber Essentials.

Sort your basics: Enforce MFA everywhere, get patching under control, document your policies, verify backups work, and create an incident contact list.

Medium Term (9-12 Months): The Roadmap

We recommend a phased approach aligned with NCSC CAF:

Phase 1: Governance & Accountability – Appoint leadership, define structure, develop policies, begin CAF gap analysis.

Phase 2: Protect and Detect – Achieve Cyber Essentials Plus, strengthen controls, conduct vulnerability scanning, and introduce monitoring.

Phase 3: Build Resilience – Develop and test Incident Response Plan, implement business continuity, define escalation protocols for 24/72-hour windows.

Phase 4: Continuous Improvement – Conduct audits, embed risk metrics, implement supplier assurance, report to Board.

Phase 5: Get Certified – Cyber Essentials minimum. Plan for ISO27001 if you supply larger organisations.

Your 30-Minute Readiness Check

✓ Do we know whether the Bill applies to us?
✓ Have we assigned senior responsibility for cyber risk?
✓ Could we detect and report an incident within 24 hours?
✓ Do we have a tested incident response plan?
✓ Have we mapped our security against CAF or Cyber Essentials?
✓ Are our critical suppliers vetted?
✓ Is cyber resilience on the board agenda?
✓ Have we allocated a budget for compliance?

Ticked fewer than four? You've got work to do – but starting now means you can do it properly.

The Real Timeline Advantage

Start now and spread the work over 9-12 months. By mid-2026, when enforcement dates are set, you'll already be there whilst competitors rush to comply.

That's when being Bill-ready becomes your competitive advantage. Tender processes will ask for compliance evidence, and you'll be able to provide it.

This isn't just about avoiding penalties. It's about being the supplier that customers trust and choose.

The Bottom Line

The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is coming, and it's going to raise the bar for everyone. Start preparing now:

1. Assign senior responsibility
2. Run an honest gap analysis against CAF
3. Fix your basic security hygiene
4. Build your incident response capability
5. Get certified (Cyber Essentials minimum)
6. Turn compliance into a competitive advantage

You don't need to do everything at once. But starting early means you implement changes properly and can use your Bill-readiness to win business.

Remember, most of this is just good security hygiene anyway. The Bill is giving you the business case to do what you probably should have been doing already.

Want the Full Deep Dive?

We've created a comprehensive guide covering detailed CAF requirements, a step-by-step Roadmap, template incident response plans for 24/72-hour reporting, supply chain frameworks, and ISO27001 preparation.

What's Next in This Series?

Previously: Q1: How do we secure our generative AI deployments?

Coming up: Q3: Cyber resilience vs cybersecurity | Q4: Managing supply chain risks | And 6 more questions

Got a specific cyber resilience question? Drop us a line.

Need Help Getting Bill-Ready?

At KH InfoSec, we help ambitious SMEs build Bill-ready security programmes without the cost of a full-time security chief.

We'll help you: Run CAF assessments, build your Roadmap to Cyber Resilience, develop 24/72-hour incident response playbooks, implement ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials, and turn compliance into a competitive advantage.

Quick call to discuss your Bill preparation? No sales pitch, just a straight conversation.