Name
James Babbage
Job Title
Director General Threats (Economic and Organised Crime)
Company
National Crime Agency
Speaker Bio
James joined the NCA as Director General Threats in June 2023.
In this role he is responsible for leading the whole-of-system operational response to serious and organised crime (SOC), with NCA coordinating contributions from policing and other national agencies. The focus is on reducing crime and harms, through investigative disruption and also collaboration with the finance and tech industry to design out crime.
Previously a GCHQ civil servant James led the transformation of GCHQ’s analysis capabilities, including through improved collaboration with the other UK intelligence agencies. and provided strategic cybersecurity advice to foreign governments in the context of cyber threats to, and attacks on, critical national infrastructure.
Immediately before joining NCA James established and led the UK National Cyber Force, a partnership between Defence and the intelligence agencies. He is committed to strengthening public discourse on intelligence and cyber matters; National Cyber Force: Responsible Cyber Power in Practice, published in April 2023, sets out how principles of responsible state behaviour apply to offensive cyber operations. NCA’s action against the Lockbit ransomware group early in 2024 shows how public cyber disruptions and industry partnerships are a critical part of a broader strategy to counter the fast growing online SOC threat which encompasses fraud, sextortion and criminal use of cryptocurrency as well as pure cybercrime.
In this role he is responsible for leading the whole-of-system operational response to serious and organised crime (SOC), with NCA coordinating contributions from policing and other national agencies. The focus is on reducing crime and harms, through investigative disruption and also collaboration with the finance and tech industry to design out crime.
Previously a GCHQ civil servant James led the transformation of GCHQ’s analysis capabilities, including through improved collaboration with the other UK intelligence agencies. and provided strategic cybersecurity advice to foreign governments in the context of cyber threats to, and attacks on, critical national infrastructure.
Immediately before joining NCA James established and led the UK National Cyber Force, a partnership between Defence and the intelligence agencies. He is committed to strengthening public discourse on intelligence and cyber matters; National Cyber Force: Responsible Cyber Power in Practice, published in April 2023, sets out how principles of responsible state behaviour apply to offensive cyber operations. NCA’s action against the Lockbit ransomware group early in 2024 shows how public cyber disruptions and industry partnerships are a critical part of a broader strategy to counter the fast growing online SOC threat which encompasses fraud, sextortion and criminal use of cryptocurrency as well as pure cybercrime.