A new Cyber Security Bill will boost cyber security defences for public sector organisations, such as hospitals or energy suppliers.

This comes at a key time, when cyber threats cost the UK economy almost £22 billion a year between 2015 and 2019, with last summers attack on Synovis in the NHS costing an estimated £32.7 million.

As part of the Bill, more organisations and suppliers will need to meet strict cyber security requirements, regulators will need to have more tools to improve cyber security and resilience in the areas they regulate, and the government would need to be more flexible to update regulatory frameworks when needed.

The government is additionally trialling ways it can be respond effectively and quickly to new cyber threats, including giving the technology secretary powers to direct regulated organisations to shore up their cyber defences, making the UK well-equipped to handle threats.

Another strategy might be new protections for more than 200 data centres, bolstering the defences of one of the main drivers of economic growth and innovation, including through AI.

In the threat of cyber attacks, the new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will ensure that the vital infrastructure and digital services the county relies on are more secure than ever, as the government sets out its legislative ambitions for the first time today.

Secretary of State for science, innovation, and technology, Peter Kyle, said: “Economic growth is the cornerstone of our Plan for Change, and ensuring the security of the vital services which will deliver that growth is non-negotiable.

“Attempts to disrupt our way of life and attack our digital economy are only gathering pace, and we will not stand by as these incidents hold our future prosperity hostage.

“The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, will help make the UK’s digital economy one of the most secure in the world — giving us the power to protect our services, our supply chains, and our citizens — the first and most important job of any government.”