Ciaran Martin

Ciaran Martin is Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at the University of Oxford.

Prior to joining the School, Ciaran was the founding Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ.

Ciaran led a fundamental shift in the UK’s approach to cyber security in the second half of the last decade. He successfully advocated for a wholesale change of approach towards a more interventionist posture, which was adopted by the Government in the 2015 National Security Strategy, leading to the creation of the NCSC in 2016 under his leadership. Over the same period, the UK moved from joint eighth to first in the International Telecommunications Union’s Global Cybersecurity Index, and the NCSC model has been widely studied and adopted in countries such as Canada and Australia. The NCSC’s approach has been lauded for responding quickly to incidents and giving the British public clear and prompt advice on how to respond to them. It has also involved putting previously classified information in the hands of industry so companies can defend themselves more effectively, implementing major improvements in automatic cyber security (such as countering brand spoofing and rapidly taking down malicious sites), and projecting the UK’s leadership in cyber security across the world. Ciaran’s work, which led to his appointment as CB in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List, has also been recognised and honoured in the United States and other countries around the world.

In his 23-year career in the UK civil service, Ciaran held senior roles within the Cabinet Office, including Constitution Director (2011–2014), where he negotiated the basis of the Scottish Referendum with the Scottish Government and spearheaded the equalisation of the Royal Succession laws between males and females in the line of succession; and Director of Security and Intelligence at the Cabinet Office (2008–2011). Between 2002 and 2008, he was Principal Private Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, and Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury.

In addition to secure technology, a constant theme in Ciaran’s career has been the promotion of responsible, values-based government, whether in the Treasury, Cabinet Office, or the security services. As a native of Northern Ireland, where he witnessed the Troubles, Ciaran saw those events in part as a result of a failure of government. He understands the importance of fair, impartial, well-run public services that work for all and are trusted. Before his NCSC career, he was particularly proud of his supporting role—along with ministers and civil servants in London and Edinburgh—in framing the arrangements for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Though hotly contested, the referendum was seen by all as fair, legally sound, and decisive. His knowledge of public finances, national and international security, and the central bureaucracy of Whitehall is a rare combination of experience and expertise.