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Cyberspace Welcomes

by msecadm4921

The UK government released the UK Cyber Security Strategy which describes the current state of internet threats, and key areas which need to be addressed. It’s been largely welcomed….

ACPO lead on e-crime Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams said: “Law enforcement is well aware that e-crime is a large and growing problem in the UK and the challenges for police is to ensure that we can work effectively with the private sector to ensure we have the best capabilities to tackle cyber criminality.

‚ÄúThrough the creation of a joint virtual taskforce, made up of partners in industry, academia, and other law enforcement agencies, we have already been able to harnesses intelligence that the business sector possesses and couples them with the investigative skills of police officers. For every £1 invested in the operational activity on the central police e-crime unit runs through a ‚ÄòVirtual Task Force‚Äô, we currently return £35 in savings ‚Äì which is a sound investment for public protection.

“The UK Cyber Security Strategy today also outlines proposals for how the service will continue to develop e-crime capabilities through the new National Crime Agency, as well as supporting the service through improved training to officers and staff to help combat the problem.”

David Harley, senior research fellow at ESET, said: ‚ÄúAt a time when governments are largely focusing on reducing outgoings even on the military, this initiative seems to show a real and justified concern about the level of attacks both the public and private sectors are now experiencing. However, my gut feeling is that the proportion of targeted attacks to run-of-the-mill untargeted attacks is probably over-estimated. <br> <br>‚ÄúI welcome the fact that the government seems to be aware that the nation‚Äôs security is not restricted to those organizations formally recognised as part of the Critical National Infrastructure. It‚Äôs a good thing, on the whole, that more generalised cybercrime will be getting some attention as well as the more glamorous but very fluffy topic of cyberwarfare, as in practice it‚Äôs not always easy to separate the two. <br> <br>‚ÄúI‚Äôm slightly concerned that if the view of the threat landscape is too cyberwarfare/GCHQ-dominated, it may not always work to the best advantage of the private sector and home users, whose priorities and assumptions may be very different. However, there have to be benefits from the involvement of security agencies with undoubted expertise in specialist contexts.‚Äù <br><br>Ross Brewer, vice president and managing director for international markets, LogRhythm said: ‚ÄúIt is great to finally see the UK government starting to take the cyber threat seriously and provide a framework to help organisations protect their assets. Much of the advice may seem pretty basic, for example GCHQ recently warned that 80 percent of successful attacks could be thwarted by following simple step like updating anti-virus, but it is often these little details that are key to maintaining security. However, today it is an unfortunate fact that some attacks will be successful no matter what perimeter defences you have in place ‚Äì making it vitally important that organisations are able to spot threats as soon as they occur. This is a bigger problem than it sounds – earlier this year Baroness Neville-Jones, the Prime Minister’s special representative to business on cyber security, stated that many organisations miss security threats because they do not know enough about their own systems to understand what normal functioning looks like.‚Äù <br><br>Ash Patel, country manager for UK and Ireland at Stonesoft said: ‚ÄúThe government‚Äôs new cyber-security strategy is encouraging but I‚Äôm disappointed to see they are not committing to any research to better understand today‚Äôs threats in order to help combat them. <br> <br>‚ÄúToday‚Äôs hackers have more sophisticated attack methods than ever before, and in order to generate the outlook that the UK PLC in cyberspace is secure, which is obviously something the government is trying to achieve, they need to be working to either slow hackers down or working to build solutions which can protect companies against these advanced threats. <br> <br>‚ÄúIf we don‚Äôt spend any time researching cybercrime, the cybercriminals will always be one step ahead.‚Äù<br><br>Victor Chavez, Chief Executive, Thales UK welcomed the strategy:<br> <br>The UK‚Äôs national prosperity and national security depend on the digital domain ‚Äì we have a lot to gain and a lot to lose from Cyber. <br> <br>Cyber Security is the ‚Äòspace race‚Äô of the 21st century, and countries are rushing to grow the technologies and skills which will allow them to dominate this important domain.<br> <br>Today‚Äôs publication of the Cyber Security Strategy is another welcome sign that Government is aware of the risks to the UK in this area, and is committed to developing the capabilities necessary to ‚Äòdefend the digital realm‚Äô.<br> <br>The UK‚Äôs national and commercial Cyber capabilities mean we have a clear opportunity to be a leading global player, and we firmly support Government‚Äôs view that both public and private sector strengths need to be harnessed to keep the nation‚Äôs economy secure and its secrets secret. <br> <br>The Strategy‚Äôs strong commitment to working in partnership with the private sector is welcome, and reflects the close working relationships which trusted Cyber companies, like Thales UK, have built with GCHQ over recent years.<br> <br>As the Strategy makes clear, there is still a lot of work to do, and both Government and Industry have a role to play.<br> <br>Companies like Thales must, and will, continue to develop cutting edge Cyber technology and expertise, and it is essential that Government sets the bar for Cyber Security by implementing common standards, strengthening existing partnerships and information sharing with critical industry players, and introducing the Cyber ‚Äòkitemark‚Äô for trusted solutions.<br> <br>The Strategy‚Äôs commitment to work with industry players to develop market standards is therefore a vital and extremely welcome step. Common standards are key to unleashing private investment and growing UK businesses, research and technology and skills ‚Äì in much the same way that creation of standards drove the development of the mobile telephone sector, where the UK continues to be a key player. Today‚Äôs announcement is a positive and practical step for the UK‚Äôs Cyber capability.<br> <br>The Cyber Security Strategy is a good step in the right direction, in making clear that as Cyber risks threaten more and more organisations, so our national defences need to evolve.<br><br>-=-=-=-=<br><br>The government released the UK Cyber Security Strategy which describes the current state of internet threats, and key areas which need to be addressed. <br><br>Chris Hardy, Regional Director, Central Government, Defence and Security, at IT security software firm McAfee, said: ‚ÄúToday‚Äôs report highlights the evolving threat landscape and the role that cyber security plays in relation to the UK economy, while emphasising the need for a co-ordinated approach to cyber-crime. Having a Joint Cyber Unit and a new Cyber Crime Unit run in association with the National Crime Agency, acting as a co-ordination point for cyber-investigations will help the UK develop a secure approach to IT and ensure we are fully committed to making the internet a safer place around the world. The internet and digital technologies represent one of the greatest opportunities for the UK to reinvigorate the economy, and it‚Äôs encouraging to see the potential of cyberspace being recognised.<br> <br>‚ÄúCyber-crime is a global issue, and only by collaborating and working together will it be possible to solve the problem. Although many existing initiatives already exist regarding information-sharing, GCHQ will be able to expand on the good work and gather the intelligence needed to help combat future threats and protect national IT infrastructure. The success of these information sharing hubs will ultimately depend on how the security intelligence is used and of course the type of information shared.<br> <br>‚ÄúEncouraging the development of industry standards to help customers to navigate the market and differentiate companies with appropriate levels of protection is important. <br> <br>‚ÄúUltimately, today‚Äôs Cyber Security Strategy announcement is a great way to increase the public‚Äôs knowledge of online security and the reaffirmation of the role that ‚Äòget safe online‚Äô plays shows that it is a crucial tool in continuing to drive public awareness.‚Äù<br><br>And Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at IT security product company Sophos, said: ‚ÄúThe strategy is a good start from the Government and it is clear that it is not only investing in defence, but also proactive measures to disrupt threats to information security. The devil is always in the detail however, and it will be interesting to see how these programmes will be put into place, and how their success will be measured. For example, when it comes to sharing information with the Government, private businesses will want to be assured that intelligence will not just flow from them to the Government, but also in the reverse direction. <br><br>‚ÄúAnother ambiguity is how kitemarks would actually work – it is predictable that scammers will simply put bogus kitemarks on their sites and fake anti-virus products, to appear legitimate. Finally, with emerging technologies, such as the rapid growth of mobile, and storage of data in the cloud, it is essential that the strategy is flexible enough to take account of this,‚Äù added Cluley.<br><br>"Internet crime has become an organised, professional operation – with those behind it adapting quickly to changing circumstances and exploiting opportunities. The stakes are getting higher for businesses, governments and end users, and it is not a battle that can be won easily. Nevertheless, seeing the UK authorities treat it as a serious concern is welcome news," added Cluley.<br><br>Rees Ward, trade association ADS Chief Executive Officer says: ‚ÄúUnderstanding the UK Government‚Äôs perspective on the fast evolving cyberspace environment helps industry to recognise what trends are likely to emerge and how best to prepare for them. The Cyberspace Strategy outlines how Government will work with the private sector to protect the internet and companies operating in the UK economy. I am encouraged by the Government‚Äôs creation of a joint public/private sector cyber security ‚Äòhub‚Äô that will allow the Government and the private sector to exchange actionable information on cyber threats and manage the response to cyber attacks. The industries represented by ADS have key roles to play here by ensuring that they protect themselves and also in the development of capabilities that can help all sectors of the economy to remain secure. ADS on behalf of sector businesses is playing its part in helping Government achieve its cyber strategy and we are actively supporting the Government‚Äôs cyber hub concept.<br><br>‚ÄúThe prospects for growth in the global cyberspace market are considerable and UK industry must remain at the forefront, driving innovation in this exciting sector. I am delighted that the Government is committed to helping the UK cyber security industry win business abroad and that UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) will work with the security sector‚Äôs trade associations to ensure that the industry‚Äôs increasing domestic strength is leveraged to help UK firms sell abroad. This is particularly important as 80% of cyberspace architecture is owned by the private sector. The UK‚Äôs cyber security industry is leading the effort to develop solutions to the threats and deliver the Government‚Äôs vision for the sector.<br><br>‚ÄúIt is also pleasing that as part of its Growth Review the Government plans to help small and medium enterprises by setting an expectation that at least 25 per cent of the value of Government cyber security contracts should go to SMEs.‚Äù<br><br>Globally ecommerce is worth US $8 trillion annually. Sales of cyber security services and solutions by ADS members alone amounted to £361m in 2010, the body says, and international sector sales are expected to grow rapidly.<br><br>Notes <br><br>ADS is a trade organisation for companies operating in the UK Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space sectors. The ADS security survey can be found here: http://is.gd/securitysurvey2011.<br><br>For the downloadable cyber strategy visit the Cabinet Office website –

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