Government outlines how £1.9bn cyber budget will help business

CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond has outlined how the government plans to spend a previously announced £1.9bn ringfenced to improve cyber security.

He said the investment in the government’s new National Cyber Security Strategy will protect the UK economy and the privacy of British citizens, while encouraging industry to up its game to prevent damaging cyber-attacks, creating a “world-class” cyber security industry and workforce.

Cyber security is recognised as one of the greatest threats to business around the world, with the global cost of crimes in cyberspace estimated at $445bn, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2016 Global Risks Report.

Outlining how cyber security underpins our daily lives such as through domestic devices in our homes and cars, air traffic control and power grids, the Chancellor reinforced how the threat of attacks invade our privacy and threaten our national security and set out how the government plans to deal with it.

He explained how increasingly vulnerable society is to cyber attacks thanks to the expanding range of connected devices which are creating more opportunities for exploitation; more demand for training and skills; old legacy IT systems used by many organisations in the UK and the readily available suite of user-friendly hacking tools which means everyone from the living room to the boardroom is exposed to malicious hackers.

The Chancellor also emphasised the responsibility that business leaders have to make sure their organisations are secure against cyber attacks and the additional support government will give industry and wider society through the new National Cyber Security Centre.

The gvernment plans to strengthen its own defences as well as making sure industry takes the right steps to protect critical national infrastructure in sectors like energy and transport.

Significant investment will go towards taking the fight to those who threaten Britain in cyber space, through the strengthening of law enforcement capabilities to raise the cost of cyber crime and building international partnerships.

The new plan also places strong emphasis on developing the nation’s capabilities to keep pace with cyber threats, increasing investment in the next generation of students and experts.

The Chancellor also announced a new cyber security research institute – a virtual collection of UK universities which will look to improve the security of smart phones, tablets and laptops through research that could one day make passwords obsolete.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said: “Britain is already an acknowledged global leader in cyber security thanks to our investment of over £860m in the last Parliament, but we must now keep up with the scale and pace of the threats we face.

“Our new strategy, underpinned by £1.9bn of support over five years and excellent partnerships with industry and academia, will allow us to take even greater steps to defend ourselves in cyberspace and to strike back when we are attacked.”

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The threat of cyber breaches is one every business needs to take seriously – regardless of what sector they operate in.

Current advice is to make sure they understand the threat of a cyber attack and have the right systems in place to protect themselves.

To help, TheBusinessDesk.com, in association with MMU and Mazars, is holding a seminar for business owners and senior managers which will highlight what you need to know and what action you should take.

For more information click here