Britain’s cyber security chief on Tuesday urged governments, industry and allies to mount a coordinated “full court press” against escalating digital threats, warning that no single measure will be enough to counter increasingly complex attacks.

The call echoes the words of U.S. officials who say the country’s new national cyber strategy demands allies work together to impose greater costs on adversaries, and “aggressively engage and leverage the private sector at scale in a way that we haven’t done already.”

In a keynote speech at the RSA Conference, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) CEO Richard Horne said cyber risks are now “of greater consequence than ever before,” driven by a growing web of state and criminal actors working in tandem.

Horne framed the response in terms of a basketball-style “full court press,” arguing that only sustained, collective pressure across multiple fronts can blunt adversaries’ capabilities.

“No one action will solve it,” he said, adding that success depends on combining efforts ranging from law enforcement and regulation to offensive cyber operations and improved resilience.

The approach calls for action across what he described as the “near, mid and far” spaces of cyber defense — from strengthening organizations’ own systems, to securing shared infrastructure such as cloud environments, to disrupting attackers directly on their own networks.

Horne highlighted practical measures already underway, including sharing malicious links with internet service providers to block large volumes of harmful traffic and working with partners to dismantle hostile infrastructure.

But he stressed that broader coordination is essential, including international cooperation, targeted regulation to drive investment in security, and pushing technology companies to produce more secure software by design.

The warning comes amid a rapidly evolving threat landscape, where artificial intelligence and interconnected actors are increasing both the scale and sophistication of cyber attacks.

Horne concluded by calling on governments, businesses and security professionals to intensify collaboration and “lean in” collectively, saying the effectiveness of their collective approach depended on sustained, unified action.