NCSC will partner with skilled external vulnerability researchers who will be given objectives to identify flaws in specific products of interest, assess proposed mitigations, and finally disclose the flaws through the 'Equities Process' procedure. UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has announced a new Vulnerability Research Initiative (VRI) that aims to strengthen relations with external cybersecurity experts. "The Vulnerability Research Initiative (VRI) is NCSC's programme of research with external partners on VR," reads the agency's announcement. The VRI is a structured collaboration between the NCSC and external cybersecurity researchers to improve the UK's capabilities in identifying and understanding software and hardware vulnerabilities. To fulfill this mission, the agency publishes alerts, cybersecurity guidance, and threat analysis, provides support in incident response, and coordinates related activities with public, private, and international partners. NCSC states that it plans to involve more experts in emerging specialized areas such as AI-powered vulnerability discovery. The NCSC is the UK's cybersecurity authority, tasked to protect from cyber threats targeting the country's critical infrastructure, government, businesses, and citizens. The researchers will also submit to the NCSC details about the tools they used and the methodologies they followed during their VR activities, to help develop a framework of effective practices. Bill Toulas Bill Toulas is a tech writer and infosec news reporter with over a decade of experience working on various online publications, covering open-source, Linux, malware, data breach incidents, and hacks. The agency already conducts internal vulnerability research on a wide range of technologies and will continue to do so. NCSC recommends using this portal to report a vulnerability instead.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Mon, 14 Jul 2025 20:25:18 +0000