Useful Contacts
If your information relates to an imminent threat-to-life or property, please contact:
- Police: 999
- Anti-Terrorist Hotline: 0800 789 321
If you know of information that you think is related to a national security threat (such as terrorism or state threats), please send information through the MI5 contact form.
Please use our protective security enquiries form to get in touch with NPSA.
Please note that NPSA do not have a press office; Journalists should contact the Home Office press office if they have an enquiry about NPSA.
Frequently Asked Questions
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) is the UK's national technical authority (NTA) for physical and personnel security.
NPSA is one of the UK's three NTAs that work closely together to provide holistic protective security advice. The others are:
- The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) - The NCSC is the UK's NTA for cyber security.
- The UK National Authority for Counter Eavesdropping (UKNACE) - UKNACE is the UK's NTA for technical security.
NPSA plays a key role in countering terrorism and hostile state activity to keep our country safe.
Our core customers are the UK's critical national infrastructure (CNI), government and other high risk, sensitive sectors. Our advice delivery extends to other nationally important assets or events, including high-profile iconic targets, where impact of damage would be equally serious.
National Infrastructure is made up of the systems (people; processes; information; technology; facilities) necessary for a country to function and upon which daily life depends. Critical National infrastructure (CNI) is a sub-set of these systems that provides vital services to the UK, that if their operation were disrupted or compromised would have a significant impact on the country. CNI also includes some functions, sites and organisations which are not critical to the maintenance of essential services, but which need protection due to the potential danger to the public (civil nuclear and chemical sites for example).
There are 13 national infrastructure sectors:
- Chemicals
- Civil Nuclear
- Communications
- Data Centres
- Defence
- Emergency Services
- Energy
- Finance
- Food
- Government
- Health
- Space
- Transport
- Water
Several sectors have defined 'sub-sectors'; for example, Emergency Services can be split into Police, Ambulance, Fire Services and Coast Guard.
Each sector has one or more Lead Government Department(s) (LGD) responsible for the sector, and ensuring protective security is in place for critical assets. The responsible LGD for some sectors may come from within one the Devolved Administrations.
The relevant Lead Government Department (LGD) for a sector is responsible for identifying and classifying CNI. However, for a System to be classified as CNI, it must meet the UK government's official definition:
Those critical elements of infrastructure (namely assets, facilities, systems, networks or processes and the essential workers that operate and facilitate them), the loss or compromise of which could result in:
a) Major detrimental impact on the availability, integrity or delivery of essential services - including those services whose integrity, if compromised, could result in significant loss of life or casualties - taking into account significant economic or social impacts; and/or
b) Significant impact on national security, national defence, or the functioning of the state.
If you think your organisation is responsible for CNI assets or capabilities you should approach your Lead Government department.
If you would like to work for NPSA, roles will be advertised on the MI5 website.
If you have any further questions about recruitment, please use these contact details.
Please supply a technical summary of your product using the Product Submission Process and one of the team will make an initial assessment and contact you with further details.
NPSA is not a public body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, so unfortunately we are unable to process these requests.