They really need to buff the NPC difficulty, but only in specific system types.
I think medium-to-high security systems should have very powerful police, and low security systems (especially Anarchy) should have very powerful pirates. Police should respond faster and in a more deadly manner to murder (of both players and NPCs). Likewise, pirates should be very dangerous in low-security (and Anarchy) systems - traders should have to think twice before trading there (think Anarchy systems in Oolite - those are actually dangerous!). People want more variety? We have these variables in place - let's make them actually have a meaningful effect on gameplay (they do not as of yet).
Low security/Anarchy systems too hard for you? Reflexes too slow? Don't go to the dangerous systems. Just don't let the PVE game continue to be bland, stale, and uniformly easy for the rest of us.
It would be nice to have a reason to look at the system information on the map, lo / hi sec etc...
Right now, it's worthless.