Infosec 2016: Two Thirds Of Security Pros Say Brexit Won’t Hurt UK’s Cyber Defence

A survey of almost 300 infosecurity professionals at Infosec 2016 in London has found two thirds believe a Brexit scenario won’t have any impact on the ability of the UK to defend itself against cyber attacks.

The EU referendum is set to be held on June 23, and will decide whether or not the UK will remain part of the European Union.

When asked if an exit from the EU would change the ability of the UK to protect itself from cyber attacks, 64 percent of 278 information security professionals thought there would be no change.

Unconcerned

The survey was conducted by US security firm Tripwire, whose EMEA vice president said that most infosec professionals appear unconcerned with the impact the EU referendum will have on cybersecurity.

“This could mean that they believe that the UK’s approach to cyber security won’t change significantly either way, but it’s also possible that EU hasn’t provided enough transparency around the impact of new regulations in the near term to make a difference to professionals that grapple with these issues every day,” he said.

But Adrian Davis, a managing director at cyber security association ISACA, alludes to a ‘remain’ vote being necessary for continued cybersecurity defence.

“Cyber threats and attacks transcend national boundaries and politics and the only way we can defend ourselves is to share information and collaborate,” he said.

Fears from IT professionals still remain, however, surrounding data regulations if Britain left the European Union.

Director of information security at Canon, Quentyn Taylor, told a keynote audience at Infosec 2016 last week that if the UK votes to leave the EU, it could have disastrous impacts on both British and multi-national businesses.

Taylor was asked whether or not the GDPR guidelines due to come into force in 2018 would still be adhered to if the UK voted leave.

He responded: “I think we’ll absolutely have to. We have data centres all over Europe and we have data transfers that happen across huge numbers of countries.

“That’s part of doing business. If we have to have a separate regulatory program here it will have huge impact for us a multinational. I think it will also have a huge impact on British businesses.”

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