The United Kingdom’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure: An Evaluation of the UK Government’s Response Mechanism to Cyber Attacks on Critical Infrastructures

2. Background

The CPNI is accountable to the Director General of the Security Service (MI5)³ and operates under the Security Service Act 1989, providing expert advice to the critical national infrastructure on physical, personnel and information security, to protect against terrorism and other threats. Its key partners include businesses and organizations that own or operate critical infrastructure, government departments, security specialists and the police (CPNI Website 2009). In accordance with the Prime Minister's February 2005 statement⁴, the Security Service has assumed the lead responsibility for all national security intelligence work in Northern Ireland from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (CPNI Website 2009). This transfer of responsibility brings Northern Ireland’s arrangements for national security work into line with those for the rest of the UK (CPNI Website 2009). Under the new arrangements, CPNI will assume the lead for providing protective security advice to the national infrastructure within Northern Ireland, particularly relating to the delivery of advice to CNI operators covering physical, personnel and information security (CPNI Website 2009).