UK biz: Cyber security war needs you! Says Home Office

Britain enlists private sector to help shape cyber security strategy

UK Plc will have a hand in deciding how Britain protects itself against cyber attacks, the government has revealed.

Home Office security minister Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones said today that representatives from the private sector will be involved in drawing up the UK's cyber security strategy in future.

"The next stage of our work in cyber security will be inviting the participation of business in the development of strategy... and its implementation," she told the Homeland and Border Security 2010 conference in London.

"We perceive cyber security in partnership with the private sector as being crucial to the success of the strategy.

"A lot of the assets that we need to protect are in the private sector."

As an example of private sector assets that need protecting from cyber attack Neville-Jones cited both critical national infrastructure, such as power stations and national internet exchanges, and high-value intellectual property held within sectors like finance.

Such assets "provide the basis for future investment in high value development and innovation", she said.

"We want a relationship with the private sector where we can help in that protective role."

UK businesses will have a say in drawing up the UK's cyber security strategy in future
(Photo credit: Shutterstock)

Small and medium-sized enterprises will also be able to contribute towards drawing up the UK's cyber security strategy, according to Neville-Jones.

Government still has a lot of work to do in educating businesses about the risk of cybercriminals penetrating their corporate systems and stealing their intellectual property, she added.

"People are not conscious of the way in which their intellectual property can be raided.

"A lot of companies do not know how their IT systems work and do not know when something has happened - it is quite serious.

"Government cannot protect everyone's systems but what it can offer is guidance and training."

She suggested that government could provide a Kitemark for organisations that had implemented policies and training to protect their systems and information, adding that in future suppliers may have to meet certain cyber security standards before they will be eligible to serve the public sector.

Last year the government launched a Cyber Security Strategy, which set a number of targets for the public and private sector on making computer systems resilient and raising security awareness, and which paved the way for the creation of the Office of Cyber Security.