UK cybersecurity sector sees rise in 2024

The UK’s cyber security industry – which includes digital identification, authentication and access controls firms – has generated £13.2 billion (US$17.1 billion) in revenue during 2024, a 12 percent year-on-year rise.

During the past year, 74 new cybersecurity companies were founded, bringing the total to 2,165. The sector has also seen an 11 percent rise in employment reaching 67,300 people, according to an annual report commissioned by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DIST).

Aside from digital identification and authentication firms, DIST’s figures also include companies working in cybersecurity services, network security, endpoint and mobile security, incident response, risk assessment, Internet of Things (IoT) security, threat intelligence and others.

In terms of investments, cyber security firms raised £206 million (US$267.6 million) across 59 deals. The year 2024 also saw a number of domestic mergers and acquisitions, including Intragen’s acquisition of UK identity management company Atlas Identity. The European Identity and Access Management (IAM) company, which works with Okta and One Identity, bought Atlas Identity in July 2024, expanding its portfolio with expertise on SailPoint and Workato.

The annual report notes that the UK’s cybersecurity industry is seeing growth in line with the sector’s importance for government digitization initiatives. The county is planning to introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill into Parliament in 2025. The legislation aims to protect national infrastructure from cyber-attacks and heighten security standards.

At the same time, DIST is also working on solving the country’s digital identity security. The department has announced the introduction of the Gov.uk digital wallet for accessing public services, mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) and digitized Veteran Cards. DIST’s Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) has also been certifying identity verification companies against the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework (DIATF).

The UK’s digital identity market has generated £2.05 billion (US$2.5 billion) annual revenue during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, according to an interim report published by OfDIA in December last year.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  cybersecurity  |  digital ID  |  Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF)  |  Gov.UK  |  identity access management (IAM)  |  OfDIA  |  UK