The growth of the internet has transformed our lives – but it also opens our communities up to new risks from criminals, hackers and foreign intelligence services.
To keep our country safe this Government published a national Cyber Security Strategy in November 2011, backed up with £860 million funding in the National Cyber Security Programme. In the Spending Review the Government more than doubled this funding to £1.9 billion over the next 5 years.
This will make Britain a safer place online – where it is easier to buy things or do business online and the infrastructure we rely on is protected against cyberattacks.
Tackling cybercrime nationally
- This Government has announced that it will invest £1.9 billion over 5 years in cyber security, an increase of 76 per cent on the last Parliament. This will create a new National Cyber Centre to be a unified source of advice and support for the country and invest in the offensive cyber programme to ensure the UK has cutting edge capabilities in this new domain of crime. Read more here.
- This Government has announced that it will recruit voluntary specialists to help the police to better tackle cybercrime. The Government will encourage the recruitment of voluntary IT specialists in the police to aid in the investigation of newer forms of crime such as cybercrime. Read more here.
- This Government has created a National Cyber Crime Unit to help police forces investigate sophisticated cyber threats. This is part of the new National Crime Agency, which we established in the last Parliament, and works to protect people from criminals online. This has its own investigative powers and helps local police forces respond better to online threats. Between 2011 and 2015, we invested £860 million in funding in the National Cyber Security Programme. Read more here.
- This Government is working with businesses to protect themselves from cyber-attacks. This Government is providing businesses – including small businesses – with advice to help protect themselves. It also built a Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership with businesses that means government and industry can exchange information about cyber threats in a trusted environment. Read more here.