Government plans cyber security hub
Standards, skills and new cyber crime unit also prominent in national strategy
The government is planning to set up a cyber security hub to pool information with the private sector as part of its new Cyber Security Strategy for the UK.
The plan will be a central element of its efforts to protect the national infrastructure, along with the adoption of security and information assurance standards for the Public Services Network (PSN) and the building of a cadre of professionals with specialist skills in the area.
Francis Maude, the minister for the Cabinet Office, announced the measures with a warning that the threat to national security from cyber attacks is increasing. He said the hub would provide an important tool in resisting the threat.
"Together with the private sector, we are pioneering a new national cyber security hub that will allow the government and businesses to exchange information on threats and responses," he said. "This promises to transform the way we manage cyber attacks and greatly strengthen our security capacity.
"We will work with the business services sector to raise industry awareness. We will also work with industry to develop private sector led standards for cyber security that help consumers navigate the market in security products and give firms who are good at security the means to make it a selling point."
A pilot of the hub is due to begin in December focused on five business sectors: defence, finance, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and energy. It will be rolled out to other sectors from March 2012, and the government hopes that small and medium enterprises will be able to benefit from the channel.
It will allow users to exchange actionable information on cyber threats, analyse trends, identify new threats and opportunities, and to link up their cyber security capabilities.
A section of the strategy highlights the role of IT in public services and the government's Digital by Default policy, and says the government is working with industry to develop relevant standards for IT products and services supplied to the public sector and for the PSN.
It also points to the establishment of certified training programmes for cyber security by March 2012, efforts to strengthen postgraduate education in the field, cross-sector research by the Government Office for Science, and the setting up of a research institute in cyber security, supported by GCHQ.
The strategy also deals with online crime, and includes a plan for a new Cyber Crime Unit with the National Crime Agency, to be up and running by 2013. This will build on the work of the Metropolitan Police's eCrime Unit by expanding the deployment of 'cyber specials', giving police forces across the country the skills to handle cyber crimes.
In addition, the role of the Centre for Protection of the National Infrastructure will be strengthened to increase its reach to organisations that have not previously been considered as part of the critical infrastructure.
The strategy won an early expression of support from IT industry association Intellect. Its director of defence and security, Gordon Morrison, said: "This strategy is a major step forward in helping businesses, the public sector and individuals understand the growing scale of the cyber threat and what actions they need to take to improve their security. We are pleased to see that several of the key actions which the government is adopting are ones which Intellect recommended to government."
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