As the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill moves through Parliament, now past its second reading and heading towards committee scrutiny, UK organisations are facing a defining moment for governance, risk and compliance. This moment has been a long time coming, says Mark Edgeworth, pictured, CEO of the platform hicomply.
This Bill represents the most significant modernisation of UK cyber law in years. It extends responsibility well beyond traditional critical infrastructure, bringing a wider set of digital services, suppliers and delivery models firmly into scope. In doing so, it reflects the reality that cyber risk is no longer contained, predictable or easily delegated.
For GRC [governance, risk and compliance] leaders, this is not just another regulatory update to absorb and interpret. It is a clear signal that resilience, accountability and oversight must now operate at the heart of the organisation. For too long, compliance has been treated as a periodic exercise, boxed into audit cycles or annual reporting routines. Meanwhile, the threats organisations face, from ransomware and supply chain exposure to large scale data compromise, are constant, adaptive and deeply interconnected. Unsurprisingly, they are now keeping boards and executives awake at night.
The expanded scope of the Bill makes one thing clear. Reporting obligations, incident response readiness and third-party risk oversight can no longer sit on the sidelines. They must be embedded into the daily fabric of risk management. It is no longer enough to point to policies or frameworks on paper. Boards and regulators will expect evidence of how controls operate in real time, how incidents are identified and escalated, and how lessons are fed back into decision making before the next failure occurs.
This matters because compliance in 2026 cannot be reduced to a tick box or a technical safeguard. It has become a strategic capability. When regulators, partners and customers assess an organisation, they are increasingly judging whether its GRC approach strengthens adaptability, continuity and trust, not simply whether minimum requirements have been met. Organisations that can connect governance structures, risk insight and operational control will be better equipped to compete in a tightening regulatory and commercial environment.
For many UK organisations, meeting this challenge will require a cultural shift. GRC functions must be empowered with timely and factual data, clear mandates and visible executive backing. They need the authority to influence behaviour across the business, from boardrooms to front line teams. Where compliance is treated as an enabler of resilience rather than a constraint on progress, organisations are far more likely to keep pace with both regulation and risk.
As Parliament calls for expert evidence ahead of detailed scrutiny this spring, GRC leaders should not sit back and wait. This is the moment to step forward and shape how good looks in practice. Not compliance after the fact, but resilience and accountability throughout the entire risk lifecycle.
About the author
Mark Edgeworth has more than 25 years’ experience scaling B2B technology businesses across global markets. Hicomply is a platform offering cybersecurity and compliance automation in the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East, for example helping businesses to gain and maintain certifications such as the ISO 27001, the international standard for information security management; and SOC 2. Visit https://www.hicomply.com.
