2010-10-18

By Editor, CIR

Commenting on the launch of today's report National Security Strategy: A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty, William Beer, director, OneSecurity, PwC, said: “Government and corporate computer networks are being targeted daily by a growing number of well-resourced and highly sophisticated cyber-criminals and even state-led operations across the world. We therefore welcome the fact that extra awareness and resources are being made available to help protect the public sector and UK plc from such cyber attacks.

Beer added that both their public and private sector clients consider that cyber security be taken much more seriously now.

“The UK's critical national infrastructure and corporate secrets are potentially at risk from cyber criminals and our own research shows that many organisations are simply unaware of how many information security breaches they have suffered. This is despite the fact that this same research shows that direct financial loss and theft of intellectual property are the key areas that impact businesses that suffer an attack,” he added.

Senior threat researcher at GFI Software, Christopher Boyd, is concerned about the ability to manage the risk. “Increased warnings in relation to cyber terror ahead of a spending review sounds like a move to secure funding and avoid cuts…Until recently, you couldn't even report computer crime to the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHCTU) - you had to go to a local police station and hope the officer at the desk knew what you were talking about and escalated your report to the right department.

“As a country, we have struggled to deal with modest, home-grown threats effectively − such as those posed by script kiddies − so what chance do we have against professional computer criminals with our current grass roots law enforcement, intelligence and counter terrorism capabilities and initiatives?”

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