Category

Cybersecurity opportunities

2 evidence-backed opportunities in Cybersecurity.

Ofgem Licence Cyber Baseline Evidence & Assurance Orchestrator

DESNZ and Ofgem have decided to develop baseline cyber-resilience requirements for all Ofgem licensees while separately reviewing which downstream gas and electricity organisations should fall within the NIS regime. That creates a layered compliance problem: organisations need to understand which cyber framework applies to which licensed entity or activity, avoid duplicating controls already evidenced elsewhere and be able to show a consistent baseline across businesses with very different risk profiles and regulatory histories. Operational consequences: Without a common evidence model, licensees can maintain separate NIS assessments, Cyber Assessment Framework mappings, corporate security controls, licence evidence, audits and consultancy outputs. The same control may be assessed repeatedly under different labels, while gaps or stale evidence are hard to see across entities. Smaller or newly regulated licensees face the additional challenge of creating an auditable baseline without the governance teams found in critical-infrastructure incumbents.

Load Control Licence Application & Ongoing Compliance Workspace

Government and Ofgem have now moved the Smart Secure Electricity Systems load-control regime from consultation into an implementation path: licence applications are expected to open in March 2027 and the licence requirement in March 2028. Prospective licensees must determine which application pathway applies, assemble evidence across managerial, financial, operational, cybersecurity and consumer-protection requirements, and then maintain evidence for monitoring, compliance and enforcement. Operational consequences: Flexibility service providers, load controllers and energy suppliers can otherwise manage the transition through legal memos, policy documents, security evidence, spreadsheets and separate operational systems. That creates repeated evidence chasing, inconsistent ownership and weak visibility of whether a control that was sufficient for the application remains in place. The burden is especially acute for technology-led entrants that have not previously operated under an Ofgem licence.