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Felicity Oswald shares reflections on the UK approach to election security at Black Hat USA conference.

Protecting elections in cyberspace requires long-term planning and vigilance to effectively halt online threats, the head of the UK’s technical authority on cyber security has said. 

Felicity Oswald, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre – a part of GCHQ – has emphasised the central role that exercising and preparation played in keeping the UK 2024 General Election safe from cyber attacks. 

Appearing at the Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas, Felicity Oswald outlined how the UK worked closely with partners across government, industry and international allies to ensure security measures were in place to bolster cyber resilience in advance of polling day. 

She made the remarks in the conference’s keynote panel session today (Wednesday) which focused on election security. Her reflections on working to protect the 2024 General Election have also been published in a blog post. 

Felicity Oswald was joined on the panel by Jen Easterly, Director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Hans de Vries, Chief Operating Officer of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity.  

She highlighted that, while the act of voting in the UK is carried out with pencil and paper, there is significant digital infrastructure which needs to be made secure, and many individuals and organisations involved in our electoral processes to protect from capable cyber actors.  

The importance of ensuring the integrity of the online information environment was also highlighted, and she emphasised the necessity for citizens to have trust in the democratic process. 

The panel session was attended by Black Hat USA delegates from across the international cyber security community, who have access to a series of technical briefings, talks and demonstrations over the course of the conference. 

The NCSC published a raft of up-to-date advice in the run-up to the election to help protect high-risk individuals, political organisations and organisations coordinating elections.