Terrorism and attacks on computer networks are among the biggest threats to the UK, Home Secretary Theresa May has said ahead of the publication of a new National Security Strategy. Rob Cotton, CEO of the UK’s largest information assurance company, NCC Group plc, backs the home secretary’s comments that cyber crime is a “growing” danger, as the NSC identifies cyber crime as a Tier 1 threat to UK security.
The strategy will form the background for Tuesday’s Strategic Defence Review, setting out the shape of UK forces after expected budget cuts of 8%. The National Security Council, set up by David Cameron in May, is publishing an updated approach to national security which identifies 16 threats to the UK.
The most serious – which they are calling “Tier 1” – comprises acts of international terrorism, hostile computer attacks on UK cyberspace, a major accident or natural hazard such as a flu pandemic, or an international military crisis between states that draws in the UK and its allies.
It is no surprise that the NSC’s report highlights cyber crime as one of the most serious threats to national security. We have been saying for a number of years that the battle against cyber crime is a never ending arms race, with hackers becoming increasingly sophisticated in their methods and more radical in their targets.
Now that the National Security Council has stressed the scale of this menace, and given strong indications that cyber security provision is to escape budget cuts, its clear that the government is beginning to take information security threats more seriously than ever before. This is a promising step, but the UK is still losing the battle for security at present.
No one doubts that the Strategic Defence and Security Review and the Comprehensive Spending Review are vital for the long term welfare of the UK – and that security will likely be protected in upcoming spending cuts – but rather than manage cyber crime and the threat to national security as some sort of overspent legacy, it needs to be actively invested in.
In order to minimise the threat, the government must work with security experts from across the country and if necessary the world, to produce a watertight, considered strategy to battle international cyber crime. While much of this protection can be achieved by patching simple vulnerabilities in existing networks, other threats will require specialist defence strategies and responsive action.
By Rob Cotton
CEO
NCC Group
www.nccgroup.com