Human Impact, Digital Risk: Why the UK’s Public & Third Sectors Need Cyber Resilience Now
The UK public & third sectors deliver a range of essential services that underpin daily life.
From emergency healthcare to housing provision and social services – often in partnership with third-party charitable organisations. Delivery of these services depend on vast digital ecosystems connecting central government departments, local authorities, and private contractors. As digital transformation accelerates, so too does the exposure to cyber risk.
In recent years, public and third sector organisations have faced an unrelenting wave of attacks - from ransomware incidents that disrupt hospital operations to phishing campaigns targeting local councils, charities and housing associations. These attacks exploit the sector’s chronic challenges: legacy systems, constrained budgets, complex procurement chains, and an expanding array of third-party suppliers.
The result is a perfect storm: mission-critical data and citizen services operating on vulnerable foundations.
Defending against this increasingly aggressive and fast-moving threat landscape requires UK public bodies and charities to go beyond compliance – emphasising the need to embed cyber security into governance, operations, and culture, supported by modern detection, response, and resilience frameworks.
This article explores how that can be achieved, and how PureCyber’s UK-based and CREST certified, Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR) and cyber defence capabilities help deliver protection where it matters most.
The State of Cyber Threats Across the UK Public Sector
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) consistently ranks public sector bodies among the most targeted entities in the nation. Threat actors - from financially motivated ransomware groups to state-aligned operators, exploit both technological and human weaknesses to gain footholds in critical systems.
With over 70% of UK public sector entities citing ransomware as their top concern (NCSC), and phishing responsible for most breaches, the urgency to adopt a proactive, intelligence-led security posture has never been greater.
Three key attack trends dominate the current landscape:
While technology underpins these threats, the root cause often lies in fragmented oversight. Multiple agencies, suppliers, and systems mean no single point of visibility. Without integrated threat detection and real-time response, organisations are often reacting long after attackers have established persistence.
That is precisely where Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR), combining automation, intelligence, and human-led expertise, has emerged as a transformative force.
Sector Spotlight: Healthcare
The NHS and wider UK healthcare system are among the most frequently targeted sectors globally. Hospitals and clinical networks handle vast amounts of personal and medical data, yet operate within legacy infrastructures that are difficult to secure or update.
Cyber criminals understand the stakes. They exploit this pressure to demand ransom payments - knowing downtime in hospitals can quickly impact patient care. In 2025, despite cyber security investment across the sector, ransomware attacks continued to disrupt NHS contractors and suppliers, exposing sensitive information and interrupting essential clinical functions.
Case Study: Preventing a Healthcare Breach
Scenario:
A regional NHS Trust’s contractor managing community care services reported unusual outbound traffic from a medical records system late on a Friday night. Logs indicated the use of a legitimate remote access tool, suggesting a possible insider or credential theft incident.
Response:
Through PureCyber’s MXDR platform, threat detection algorithms flagged the activity as high-risk due to its timing and associated IP address - previously linked to credential-stealer malware. Within minutes, PureCyber’s analysts correlated the data with external threat intelligence feeds, confirming an active campaign targeting UK healthcare suppliers.
Within minutes, automated containment disabled the compromised session and blocked outbound IPs associated with the campaign. The affected supplier’s credentials were revoked and replaced, and forensic triage confirmed no patient data exfiltration had occurred.
Outcome:
No service disruption occurred. The Trust subsequently introduced stronger MFA enforcement across all supplier accounts and implemented continuous monitoring through PureCyber’s CREST certified, 24/7 UK-based SOC.
Key Takeaway:
Healthcare cyber security depends on visibility and rapid response. Proactive monitoring across both internal systems and external suppliers is critical to protecting patient safety and service continuity.
Sector Spotlight: Housing Associations
Across the UK, housing associations and local councils manage a wealth of personal and financial data for millions of tenants and residents. This includes rent payments, benefits, repair requests, and case management records. Such data is a goldmine for cyber criminals, who exploit weak authentication controls and shared third-party portals to infiltrate systems.
Many housing organisations operate with small IT teams and limited cyber security resources, often relying on outsourced managed service providers who may not deliver in-depth, 24/7 monitoring.
Case Study: Tenant Data Protected Through Rapid Response
Scenario:
A mid-sized housing association noticed multiple failed login attempts on its tenant management portal, followed by successful access from an overseas IP. The attacker attempted to extract resident data through automated queries.
Response:
PureCyber’s MXDR platform detected the abnormal pattern and correlated the IP address with known credential reuse campaigns targeting public-sector login portals. Human analysts verified the suspicious behaviour within minutes and activated containment measures: disabling the compromised account, blocking the IP, and temporarily suspending external API queries.
Simultaneously, PureCyber’s team coordinated with the association’s IT department to reset credentials, audit user permissions, and review supplier integrations. Further investigation revealed reused credentials from a compromised third-party payroll vendor.
Outcome:
The intrusion was stopped within 20 minutes of detection, with zero confirmed data loss. A follow-up review prompted a mandatory password reset and training exercise.
Key Takeaway:
For housing organisations, security must extend across tenants, staff, and suppliers. MXDR solutions provide the continuous oversight necessary to detect and contain emerging threats before they escalate into full-scale breaches.
Sector Focus: Charities
Charities occupy a unique position within the UK’s digital landscape. They often manage sensitive information about donors, beneficiaries, and vulnerable individuals - yet operate with limited cyber security budgets and minimal in-house expertise. This makes them ideal targets for phishing, payment fraud, and ransomware attacks.
Recent data from the UK’s Charity Commission found that almost 40% of charities experienced a cyber incident in the last 12 months, with phishing and payment redirection scams being the most common. Attacks not only threaten data security but can damage public trust and divert funds from essential causes.
Case Study: Stopping a Charity Donation Fraud in Progress
Scenario:
A large UK charity supporting healthcare research noticed unusual activity in its donation processing system. Several large payments were flagged as “pending review,” triggered by anomalies in the donor address validation API.
Response:
PureCyber’s MXDR solution identified the anomaly through its correlation engine, linking the suspicious transactions to a fraud campaign leveraging fake payment gateways. Within minutes, analysts verified that the system had been accessed through a compromised admin credential obtained via a phishing email.
Automated response playbooks isolated the affected endpoint, disabled the compromised account, and notified the charity’s payment provider. Threat hunters traced the intrusion path, discovering that a malicious browser extension had been used to harvest session tokens.
Outcome:
All fraudulent transactions were stopped before funds were transferred. The charity’s donation platform was restored within hours, and PureCyber analysts provided forensic reports and training to strengthen phishing defences.
Key Takeaway:
Charities face the dual challenge of limited resources and high trust exposure. Real-time detection, coupled with human-led triage, prevents financial and reputational loss - allowing organisations to focus on their mission instead of cyber recovery.
Building Cyber Resilience Across the Public Sector
True cyber resilience goes beyond patching systems or deploying antivirus software. It is a strategic capability that must be woven into governance, procurement, and operational delivery across all public institutions.
Key pillars include:
Continuous Threat Monitoring: 24/7 detection across endpoints, networks, and cloud environments - supported by human analysts to validate and escalate critical alerts.
Incident Response Readiness: Defined playbooks and escalation paths aligned to NCSC CAF and Cyber Essentials Plus standards.
Attack Surface Management: Ongoing discovery of exposed assets, leaked credentials, and spoofed domains that could be weaponised against the organisation.
Third-Party Oversight: Continuous monitoring of contractors and vendors, particularly in shared service models.
Culture & Training: Empowering every employee - from senior executives to frontline staff - to recognise and report threats.
PureCyber’s approach delivers all of these through a co-managed model - combining automation, analytics, and expert human oversight. Clients gain access to CREST-certified UK-based analysts, real-time intelligence feeds, and bespoke playbooks aligned to their operational realities.
Protecting the Services That Power the Nation
Cyber security in the public sector is not simply about technology; it’s about maintaining public trust. When hospitals, housing providers, or transport networks are disrupted, the impact extends far beyond data; it touches lives and communities.
The path forward requires collaboration, investment, and foresight. By integrating proactive monitoring, rapid response, and continuous threat intelligence, public sector organisations can transform cyber security from a compliance exercise into a true operational strength.
PureCyber stands as a trusted UK partner for this mission - delivering resilient, scalable, and transparent cyber defence. Our UK-hosted MXDR platform, threat intelligence operations, and dedicated SOC analysts ensure that the public services millions rely on remain secure, available, and resilient - today and in the future.
How Can PureCyber Help?
The PureCyber team are here to take over the burden of your cyber security and ensure your organisation’s data remains secure and well managed, with proactive monitoring and real-time threat intelligence - providing you with a comprehensive and reliable cyber department to support you in all aspects of your security efforts, including: 24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) services, Managed Detection & Response (MDR/EDR),Threat Exposure Management (TEM) & Brand Protection Services & Penetration Testing.
PureCyber is recognised as an Assured Service Provider by the NCSC to offer governance and compliance consultancy services/audits. Contact our team of compliance experts to enquire about our full range of Governance Support - including Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, FISMA, SOC1 and SOC2 standards.
Get in touch or book a demo for more information on our services and how we can safeguard your organisation with our expert cyber security solutions.
Email: info@purecyber.com Call: 0800 368 9397