Government Warns UK Businesses To Invest More In Staying Safe Online

British businesses have been told by the government to invest more into their online security provisions as the threat from cyber-attacks continues to grow.

This follows a survey which found that 74 percent of small businesses and 90 percent of major businesses in the UK have suffered a security breach within the last year.

The call was backed by the Minister for the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, who urged businesses across the country to sign up to the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme for better protection and education.

World leader

“Good cyber-security underpins the entire digital economy – we need it to keep our businesses, citizens and public services safe,” said Vaizey (pictured left). “The UK is a world leader in the use of digital technologies but we also need to be a world leader in cyber security.”

“Trust and confidence in UK online security is crucial for consumers, businesses and investors. We want to make the UK the safest place in the world to do business online and Cyber Essentials is a great and simple way firms can protect themselves.”

Vaizey noted that more than 1,000 businesses have now signed up to the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme, part of the National Cyber Security Programme, which looks to offer protection for businesses against the most common threats on the Internet, as well as promoting awareness through advertising campaigns.

Future protection

And in order to promote the teaching and learning of security skills, Vaizey also announced a new £500,000 fund to help universities and colleges develop innovative teaching and learning around cyber security.

Institutions can apply for grants of up to £80,000, which they need to match-fund and must generate real-world impact across the discipline. The new fund, which will be administered through the Higher Education Academy, will ensure higher education students get high quality, innovative teaching giving them the skills to protect UK businesses and Government against cyber-attacks.

Since launching in 2011, the National Cyber Security Programme has seen £860m of government investment to protect and promote the UK and its online businesses.

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