NCS GuideStrategy Alignment
NCS Guide

Authority reference

Guide to Developing a National Cybersecurity Strategy

Third Edition, 2025 (v3) · ISBN 978-92-61-42091-8

A multistakeholder reference for national leaders and policymakers developing or revising a National Cybersecurity Strategy. Produced with 37 contributors. Flexible and tailored to national context — civilian and defensive focus.

Process + content

How the Guide is organised

Two axes: a development process (Lifecycle) and strategy content (Principles + Focus Areas).

Lifecycle I–VI

  1. IInitiation
  2. IIStocktaking
  3. IIISustainable Funding · v3 emphasis
  4. IVProduction
  5. VImplementation
  6. VIMonitoring & Evaluation

Principles 4.1–4.10

  • 4.1 Vision
  • 4.2 Comprehensive & tailored
  • 4.3 Inclusiveness
  • 4.4 Economic & social prosperity
  • 4.5 Human rights
  • 4.6 Risk management & resilience
  • 4.7 Policy instruments
  • 4.8 Leadership, roles & resources
  • 4.9 Trust environment
  • 4.10 Technological foresight & adaptability (new in v3)

Focus Areas 5.1–5.7

  • 5.1 Governance
  • 5.2 Critical infrastructure, CII & essential services
  • 5.3 Risk management
  • 5.4 Incident response
  • 5.5 Capability, capacity & awareness
  • 5.6 Legislation & regulation
  • 5.7 International cooperation

Editions

Compatibility with v2

Guide 2025 builds on the 2021 Second Edition. Core process and content ideas carry forward. Notable v3 additions include Phase III (Sustainable Funding), Principle 4.10 (foresight), and deeper Focus Area practice — so v2 checklists are not a 1:1 map.

This tool

How Strategy Alignment relates

An alignment assessment against Guide v3 — Lifecycle, Principles, and Focus Areas — using an app-defined Full / Partial / Absent / N/A scale. Not an official Guide score; the Guide itself has no maturity scale.

← Back to Strategy Alignment