Getting serious: the Cyber Security Strategy
Written by: Rachel Wrathall on 26 June, 2009As all working within the arena will have noticed, the Cabinet Office yesterday released its cyber security strategy.
Whilst we of course welcome the Government’s move to implement the strategy, I am still concerned about whether the move will be robust enough to shift thinking and bring cyber security from the periphery to the core of national security considerations.
Government, critical national infrastructure and business are driving efficiencies via a move towards digitalisation, as indicated in the recent Digital Britain Report. Increasing reliance on networked information and communications demands that cyber security is considered as the core foundation of national security, without which all above is destabilised.
Yet at present, cyber security functions, where they exist, remain as an adjunct to the agencies they support. They are often under-funded and inadequately resourced when considered in terms of criticality to securing business functions.
Cyber security cannot be an add-on or an after-thought if we are to get this right - it must be considered in the development and support of public servies and critical national infrastructure from the outset. How effective the new cyber security strategy will be in driving home this message across public services is yet to be seen.
Tags: critical national infrastructure, cyber, security
2 July, 2009 at 11:55 am
[...] last week’s publication of a UK national Cyber Security Strategy, the FT devoted a leader column to “Cyber security risk” highlighting the growing threat of [...]