UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill shifts supply-chain risks onto MSPs with new mandatory standards

The upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will significantly increase obligations for managed service providers, placing supply-chain security at the centre of UK corporate resilience efforts amid rising cyber threats.

James Griffin, chief executive of CyberSentriq, warns that the UK’s forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will sharply increase obligations on managed service providers (MSPs) and place supply‑chain security at the heart of corporate re...

silience planning. According to the lead commentary published in Security Journal UK, the Bill will require MSPs to demonstrate they can protect client supply chains as regulators gain stronger powers to audit and sanction failures.

The government’s policy statement on the Bill sets out similar aims, noting the legislation will bring an estimated 900–1,100 MSPs into scope and strengthen national resilience by enabling regulators to designate “designated critical suppliers” whose compromise could cause systemic disruption. The policy statement says the measure will expand regulators’ powers to require higher standards from suppliers deemed high impact. Parliamentary bill documents confirm that medium and large MSPs will be treated as relevant digital service providers under an expanded Network and Information Systems framework and that the Information Commissioner’s Office will act as a regulator for those MSPs.

Griffin says the Bill tightens incident‑reporting windows, obliging MSPs to notify regulators and the National Cyber Security Centre within 24 hours, with a more detailed follow‑up due within 72 hours, and to maintain baseline security controls spanning access, monitoring and recovery. Industry commentary and legal summaries note the Bill mirrors aspects of the EU’s NIS2 directive, introducing comparable duties on supply chains and the novel concept of designated critical suppliers, while preserving rights of appeal against designation through the First‑Tier Tribunal.

The Bill arrives against a backdrop of sharply rising supply‑chain attacks. Griffin points to high‑profile UK incidents, including the 2023 MOVEit compromise and a 2024 breach affecting Ministry of Defence payroll data, to argue that single weak links can cascade across sectors. Government and industry analyses cited alongside the lead piece highlight that fewer than one quarter of large UK firms actively review supply‑chain cyber risk today, a gap the Bill is intended to close.

Practically, Griffin recommends MSPs take five immediate steps: inventory and assess critical suppliers, adopt continuous monitoring and threat intelligence sharing, harden baseline defences (including multi‑factor authentication and zero‑trust principles), elevate backup and recovery testing, and prepare incident‑response playbooks and tabletop exercises to prove readiness for the Bill’s reporting timeframes. Legal and consultancy briefings accompanying the Bill stress similar measures and add that data centres above specified capacity thresholds are likely to fall into scope, reflecting how infrastructure providers can create systemic exposure.

Regulators will be able to subject designated suppliers to obligations akin to those for operators of essential services, legal commentary says, while the Bill’s wider application to sectors such as energy, transport and water aims to harmonise UK practice with international rules and give public and private organisations greater confidence when relying on suppliers across jurisdictions.

Griffin frames compliance not only as a regulatory burden but as a market differentiator: early adopters who can demonstrate robust controls and tested recovery will win client trust and commercial advantage. As he puts it in Security Journal UK, “Resilience is no longer optional, I believe, it is the foundation of success in a regulated, high‑threat environment.”

The Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in early 2026, and both government guidance and parliamentary materials make clear that MSPs, their clients and their suppliers should use the intervening months to close visibility gaps and harden controls before the new regime comes into force.

Source: Noah Wire Services