Benefits and challenges brought about by a remote approach to NISR implementation
Guest Blog: Billy Cavanagh, Consultant at Atkins as part of our #Cyber2021 week.
Cyber threats to operational technology have adapted over recent years into a very real and dangerous threat to national infrastructure. More and more systems have been connected to the Internet, which has opened up more avenues for attacks, however it has also increased the potential for more holistic security view over what were once heavily siloed systems.
The Network and Information Systems Regulations (NISR) aim to ensure operators of essential services are aware of these new threats facing operational technology (OT) systems and that appropriate measures are in place to detect and manage a security breach. However, with the added complexity of remote working brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing the necessary changes to not only reduce cyber risk, but increase NISR compliance has been complicated. With increased focus on flexible remote working being present in most future business models, the specific challenges that were addressed, as well as the additional benefits that were realised during the past year will need to be taken into account in order to establish best practice. Most of these benefits and challenges will apply across multiple industries and will need to be carefully managed to help develop successfully resilient cyber enabled sectors.
Virtual engagement and building effective working relationships
Building effective working relationships to enable the successful integration of new procedures and processes is essential. With this engagement switching to be entirely virtual, the ability to understand a business and its employees, and determine effective recommendations in the context of NISR has created additional challenges which need to be monitored:
Managing relationships without screen/email overloading of staff
Reduced pace in understanding the business and its structure
Difficulty in conveying unfamiliar complex regulations and their importance to staff
Slow instant engagement due to limited reading of body language
Diminished cyber security culture and awareness.
Cyber security upskilling without physical hands on training
Having joined a NISR project completely remotely without even stepping foot into the client’s organisation - nor having physically met the Atkins project team - came with its own difficulties. Also, having little prior cyber experience and learning purely through virtual working provided further challenges.
Developing staff understanding of cyber security solely through virtual learning can have considerable drawbacks. Without having hands on appreciation for a product or process, it can be difficult to realise its full impact on a business. To mitigate this, testing and development, as well as virtual training can be undertaken remotely on virtual machines, replicating products or processes that are to be implemented. This increases the upskilling of employees by offering tangible exposure to cyber products, providing a more ingrained and in-depth understanding of cyber security, whilst giving context to the more abstract elements of NISR.
Visualising integration complexities
In addition to an inexperience of physical training, having only remote engagement with a product reduces the ability to understand the intricacies around its capabilities, as well as its integration within the wider business. Limited physical involvement with a product means it’s more difficult to visualise the complexities in how it should be deployed and best integrated with an existing company structure. This can lead to added difficulties when conveying complexities to different areas of an organisation, which will have different perspectives on a project and different personalities to engage with, making it harder to collaborate effectively.
Increased accessibility to personnel
With the majority of non-critical personnel now working remotely, access to key personnel has actually increased since the shift to remote working. Although there have been challenges to overcome with remote engagement, there are benefits which have aided project progression and implementation velocity. These benefits include reduced travel time, more transparency with staff availability and easier access to operational personnel, especially when working with CNI businesses which are usually dispersed over a large geographic area.
Flexible approach with agile remote product deployment
To mitigate risk and to reduce the physical interaction required throughout the course of the pandemic, 3rd party contractors have been appointed to help deploy products to CNI sites. This comes with additional resourcing and project management challenges, but also provides added value to the project by being more flexible during the deployment phase. This includes:
Reduced physical risk
Minimised travel / expenses
Increases flexibility as physical and virtual implementation of a solution can be separated.
Overall, there have been many learning opportunities whilst developing NISR compliance remotely, which will be applicable to most, if not all, cyber enabled sectors. Businesses in the future will need to be aware of these benefits and challenges when working across a physical and virtual operating model and effectively adjust their project teams to ensure they can level up their business to manage the changing cyber landscape.
Jill Broom
Head of Cyber Resilience, techUK
Jill Broom
Head of Cyber Resilience, techUK
Jill leads the techUK Cyber Resilience programme, having originally joined techUK in October 2020 as a Programme Manager for the Cyber and Central Government programmes. She is responsible for managing techUK's work across the cyber security ecosystem, bringing industry together with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Jill also provides the industry secretariat for the Cyber Growth Partnership, the industry and government conduit for supporting the growth of the sector. A key focus of her work is to strengthen the public–private partnership across cyber to support further development of UK cyber security and resilience policy.
Before joining techUK, Jill worked as a Senior Caseworker for an MP, advocating for local communities, businesses and individuals, so she is particularly committed to techUK’s vision of harnessing the power of technology to improve people’s lives. Jill is also an experienced editorial professional and has delivered copyediting and writing services for public-body and SME clients as well as publishers.
Olivia Staples joined techUK in May 2025 as a Junior Programme Manager in the Cyber Resilience team.
She supports the programs mission to promote cyber resilience by engaging key commercial and government stakeholders to shape the cyber resilience policy towards increased security and industry growth. Olivia assists in member engagement, event facilitation and communications support.
Before joining techUK, Olivia gained experience in research, advocacy, and strategic communications across several international organisations. At the Munich Security Conference, she supported stakeholder engagement and contributed to strategic communications. She also worked closely with local and national government stakeholders in Spain and Italy, where she was involved in policy monitoring and advocacy for both public and private sector clients.
Olivia holds an MSc in Political Science (Comparative Politics and Conflict Studies) from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a BA in Spanish and Latin American Studies from University College London (UCL).
Outside of tech, Olivia enjoys volunteering with local charities and learning Norwegian.
Annie is the Programme Manager for Cyber Resilience at techUK. She first joined as the Programme Manager for Cyber Security and Central Government in September 2023.
In her role, Annie supports the Cyber Security SME Forum, engaging regularly with key government and industry stakeholders to advance the growth and development of SMEs in the cyber sector. Annie also coordinates events, engages with policy makers and represents techUK at a number of cyber security events.
Before joining techUK, Annie was an Account Manager at a specialist healthcare agency, where she provided public affairs support to a wide range of medical technology clients. She also gained experience as an intern in both an MP’s constituency office and with the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed. Annie holds a degree in International Relations from Nottingham Trent University.
Programme Marketing Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Tracy Modha
Programme Marketing Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Tracy supports the marketing of several areas at techUK, including Cyber Exchange, Central Government, Cyber Resilience, Defence, Education, Health and Social Care, Justice and Emergency Services, Local Public Services, Nations and Regions and National Security.
Tracy joined techUK in March 2022, having worked in the education sector for 19 years, covering administration, research project support, IT support and event/training support. My most outstanding achievement has been running three very successful international conferences and over 300 training courses booked all over the globe!
Tracy has a great interest in tech. Gaming and computing have been a big part of her life, and now electric cars are an exciting look at the future. She has warmed to Alexa, even though it can sometimes be sassy!
Programme Team Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Francesca Richiusa
Programme Team Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Fran serves as the Programme Team Assistant within techUK’s Public Sector Market Programmes.
In this role, she is responsible for delivering comprehensive team support, managing administrative functions, and fostering strong relationships with members.
Prior to joining techUK in May 2025, Fran built a meaningful career in the charitable and local government sectors. She worked extensively with both victims and perpetrators of crime, and notably led the coordination of Domestic Homicide Reviews across Surrey—an initiative aimed at identifying lessons and preventing future incidents of domestic abuse.
Outside of work, Fran is an avid traveller and a proud cat mum who enjoys unwinding with her feline companions.