National Protective Security Authority
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) provides expert advice on physical and personnel security to businesses, academia and other organisations.
It is part of MI5.
Security advice
Providing protective security advice has been an integral part of MI5’s work to keep the country safe for many years. By providing advice, we help improve the country’s protections and reduce the UK’s vulnerability to national security threats.
What is NPSA?
NPSA is MI5’s protective security arm. It was created in 2023 and replaced the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure with a much-expanded remit, looking beyond critical national infrastructure. This expansion reflects the changing nature of the national security threats the UK faces.
What does NPSA do?
NPSA offers guidance, advice and training based on their world-leading research and development programme and the latest intelligence.
For example, the Secure Innovation advice helps start-ups and spin outs to take proportionate steps to keep their ideas and technologies safe from theft by state actors. Trusted Research offers bespoke advice to academia to help protect cutting-edge work in the UK’s universities.
NPSA works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, to offer joined up advice about how best to respond to both physical and online threats.
Find out more about the NPSAThe UK has a thriving research and innovation sector that attracts investment from across the world. Trusted Research highlights the risk associated with international collaboration for this sector and provides advice on how to mitigate it, protecting research and helping to safeguard national security.
The security threat to the UK emerging technology industry is growing, but many businesses in the sector remain vulnerable to attack. Secure Innovation provides security advice that can help startups protect their innovation and establish strong security practices.
Think Before You Link raises awareness of the risks associated with making links with unverified contacts on social and professional networking sights and provides easy to follow advice on how to recognise, remove and report suspicious profiles, including via our NPSA Think Before You Link app.
