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Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has said he accepts “the risk” that comes with digitising public services amid increased threats of cyber attacksfrom hostile states.

The Cabinet minister sought to reassure the public that “their privacy and their safety always comes first”. But he warned that there is “a second danger” if Britain doesn’t move forward in the digital age.

He said: “I'm not prepared to take that risk. I'm not prepared to let people get left behind when it comes to public services in the digital age. So I'm accepting the risk that comes with progress.”

Mr Kyle pointed to hisCyber Securityand Resilience Bill, which was announced in the King’s Speech last year(2024), to strengthen the UK’s digital defences. “I knew when I came into office that we weren't secure enough as a country, so I am taking firm action,” he told The Mirror.

“I've upgraded our digital infrastructure to become that of critical national importance, which gives me more powers to intervene in all of the different services that keep us safe and secure in the digital age that people would expect me to be using. So I'm using these powers to the maximum. And when it comes to data, I want to reassure people that their privacy and their safety always comes first.”

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Last year alone, more than 40% of UK businesses reported experiencing a cyber security breach or attack, according to the Government.

Recent high-profile cyber attacks include one against the British Library in 2023, which saw employee data leaked, and a ransomware attack last summer that saw thousands of appointments cancelled at two London NHS trusts. King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust last week confirmed that a patient’s death had been linked to the cyberattack.

And earlier this year, the personal data of hundreds of thousands of people was accessed and downloaded in a “significant” attack on the Legal Aid Agency.

The National Security Strategy, published last week, said the British public must "actively prepare" for war on UK soil. Among a series of chilling warnings, it said cyber attacks were among the increasing threats from hostile states. “Our reliance on data centres and other forms of digital infrastructure will also increase vulnerabilities to cyber attack,” it said.

Asked about increasing threats, Mr Kyle said: “There is a risk that we use data and we use AI and we use digital services and we get it wrong. I am doing everything possible to make sure we're using the latest security, using the latest standards, and we're bringing the skills into government to make sure that we are up there with the very best when it comes to keeping people safe.

“There is a second danger that we don't move forward in the digital age, we don't deploy apps, which is what the Tories didn't do, that we don't use AI to serve people as a government and that the gap between the welfare state and the gap between government and public services and the way people lead the rest of their lives gets wider and wider and wider.

“I'm not prepared to take that risk. I'm not prepared to let people get left behind when it comes to public services in the digital age. So I'm accepting the risk that comes with progress and doing everything I can do to make sure that we are using the latest and the greatest skills that we can get our hands on and reassuring people that we are taking this, and their privacy and their safety, incredibly seriously.”

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