Microsoft Event - Meeting Minutes

On Tuesday 11th February we held a closed briefing event in Westminster for MPs and Peers on the cyber threat landscape with a briefing from Amy Hogan-Burney, Vice President of Customer Security and Trust at Microsoft and Will Orme, Defence Director, Microsoft UK.

The minute of the meeting can be found here:

Microsoft Cyber Threat Landscape Meeting 11^th February 2025 Minutes

Attendees:

• Lord Jeffrey Mountevans (sent apologies)
• Lord Darren Mott
• Danial Aldridge MP
• Philip Bouverat
• Sarah Bool MP (Officer of the APPG)
• Louise Jones MP
• Baroness Uddin
• Jonathan Davies MP
• Gagan Mohindra MP
• Nick Coombes
• Hannah Furse
• James Clark (Secretariat)
• Amy Hogan-Burney (Microsoft)
• Will Orme (Microsoft)
• Simon Staffell (Microsoft)

Introduction:

• James Clark introduced the meeting.

Discussion Points:

1. Threat Landscape:

1. • Amy discussed the impact of cybercrime on SMEs and individuals, specifically in the UK.
   • Discussed various codenamed state and non-state threat actors who carry out cyberattacks and some of whom gather data in order to preposition in case of potential future hostilities.
   • Emphasized the targeting of the UK Government and its citizens, with a focus on government agencies and the education sector.

1. Innovation and Challenges:

1. • Will highlighted that the UK Ministry of Defence leads its peers in terms of willingness and ability to innovate in defence technology, but faces challenges in rolling out innovation.
   • Process and policy hamper the scaling of capability and drive focus towards an ability to demonstrate adherence rather than deliver capability.
   • Addressed the need to bridge the gap between capability development plans and the reality of how technology can impact outcomes.
   • Mentioned Defence Digital are going to great efforts to integrate these aspects, but concluded that it remains a difficult task.

1. Security and Financial Controls:

1. • Discussed the importance from a security perspective of creating a single identity across the Ministry of Defence.
   • Highlighted process and regulation around financial controls and mechanisms that are outdated for hardware but are completely unsuited to digital initiatives.

1. Corporate Digital Plan:

1. • Discussed the flexibility and decision-making needed/available in digital initiatives compared to long-term hardware projects e.g. aircraft carriers.
   • Mentioned the UK's thought leadership on digital but noted that amongst NATO members the further East you go, states are better set up in terms of deterrence and resilience. This is due to the proximity of the threat and the tangible nature of the threat.

1. Understanding Cyber Threats:

1. • Acknowledged the difficulty for people to understand cyber threats due to their abstract nature.

The meeting concluded at 13:00.