The government has announced a £4 million injection into awareness around cyber security issues, as industry experts celebrated the announcement.
The first part of the £4 million push will be a marketing campaign, which will aim to let consumers and small businesses learn about how to protect themselves from sophisticated cyber security threats. Government is inviting bids from media, PR and creative agencies.
It will be launched in autumn, drawing on expertise from within government and across partners.
“By making small changes British businesses can remain competitive in the global economy and consumers can have greater confidence using the internet,” said security minister James Brokenshire.
Security professionals have welcomed the move. “Great to see more explicit recognition of awareness on the agenda. It’s a key tool in securing the UK, technology alone can’t do the job,” James Lyne, director of technology strategy at Sophos, told TechWeekEurope.
“That said, it’s still a small allocation compared to the overall (substantial) sums awarded in this area by government over the past few years. £4 million won’t solve it, but it will kick start the process.”
Don Smith, director of technology at Dell SecureWorks, added: “This investment is great news; raising awareness of cyber security is absolutely necessary. End users are on the front line of security and anything which raises their awareness is fantastic.”
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Sir, The news that £4M is to be injected into the Government’s National Cyber Security Programme is a welcome first step in fighting cyber crime. However, no matter how well intended the initiative, more tangible measures are required to make an improvement in the sector.
Educating consumers and businesses on how to avoid falling victim to cyber criminals is a laudable initiative, but it's clearly not hitting the core of the problem. The public needs more than this to regain trust in information security at a national and international level.
Wouldn't it be better to protect users by enforcing standards that deter wrong doers in the first place? The current Wild West approach, where every man must fend for himself, needs to evolve into a regulated environment governed by laws, audits and accreditations.
The £4M could be put to better use by creating an effective, measurable tool of accreditation for data security. This would enable coherent regulation and help shape e-commerce and online activity.
Consumers would then be able to make educated assessments, and choose the retailers and websites that carry the trustmarks of Government approval. Only by correctly understanding the online environment and policing it accordingly, can we move from the Wild West of the Internet toward a trust-assured marketplace.
Best regards,
Peter Bassill
Hedgehog Security
Sutherland Institute, Lightwood Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST3 4HY
Telephone: 01782 467900
www: https://www.hedgehogsecurity.co.uk/
e-mail: peter.bassill@hedgehogsecurity.co.uk