Brand owners are being offered ‘James Bond’-style technologies developed at GCHQ as part of new cyber security strategy being unveiled by ministers today.
Fifteen companies, including Barclays, BT, Vodafone and Centrica, have been working to develop a pilot scheme which will start next month. This will involve some of the UK’s blue-chip firms across defence, energy, finance and pharmaceuticals, sharing information with GCHQ on a formal basis.
The proposals aim to show how the government is going to spend some of the £650m it set aside for cyber security in last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Though it does not provide specific spending details, the ideas in the strategy include creating within a new cybercrime unit within the National Crime Agency that will take the lead in the most serious fraud and theft cases. It will also encourage all police forces to recruit more so-called cyber specials – part-time officers who are experts in computing.
In addition, the government has also pledged to do more to raise public awareness by revamping the Get Safe Online website. It will also push software manufacturers to agree to a kitemark safety system for their products.
The cyber strategy is the second since 2009 and is designed to bolster the UK’s defences against the growing menace of theft, fraud and espionage online. The Cabinet Office insisted, however, that GCHQ would not be opening a commercial arm.
Minister for cyber security Francis Maude said: “Closer partnership between the public and private sector is crucial. The strategy heralds a new era of unprecedented co-operation between the government and industry on cyber security, working hand in hand to make the UK one of the most secure places in the world to do business.”
Though government departments are regularly bombarded with malicious emails, and are frequently targeted for attack, almost all of the most serious cases of cyber theft are against companies and banks – but they prefer not to publicise such incidents because of the potential damage to their reputation and share price.
Ministers believe that one way to stop or deter criminal networks from attempting to steal intellectual property is for firms to work with specialists at GCHQ.
