A nuclear power station
There is a growing cyber threat to the UK's critical national infrastructure

Security strategy failing on cyber protection, say Tories

Government needs to do more to safeguard critical national infrastructure

Written by Tom Young

The Tories have joined the private sector in calling the government's much-delayed National Security Strategy a disappointment in tackling the cyber threat to the UK's critical national infrastructure.

The strategy recognised the 'risk of disruption to their integrity and availability through cyber-attack, whether terrorist, criminal, or state-led.'

But it was short on policy, said David Davis, shadow home secretary.

"The government does not regard the threat of cyber attack as a strategic security challenge," he said. "But just one of several global trends - a second-order driver of insecurity."

The strategy, published at the end of last month, was aimed at outlining how the UK could deal with changing terrorist threats in the 21st century.

Last month the Tories published a green paper on cyber crime recommending a number of measures including:

-Ratifying the international cyber crime convention.

-Fixing the gap left by rolling the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit into the Serious Organised Crime Agency with another agency.

-Introducing a data breach notification law.

-Encouraging more internet security training in colleges.

-Giving a specific minister the brief of co-ordinating cyber crime policy across government.

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print this
  • Share

reader comments

related articles

Picture of a street in Shanghai

China cracks down on insider cyber hacking

Four hackers sentenced for larceny, but foreign sites remain targets 03 Apr 2008

 

Home Office delay on hacking law continues

Denial of service attacks and selling of hacking tools not yet criminalised 03 Apr 2008

Cyber attack threat is ignored

Government comes under fire for highlighting threat but not implementing policy 27 Mar 2008

Tories unveil cyber-crime policies

Current government policy lacks co-ordination, focus and urgency, says shadow home secretary 06 Mar 2008

Government launches UK’s first cyber security strategy

New plan will aim to increase risk monitoring and information sharing capabilities 25 Jun 2009

Tories unveil plans to end the "surveillance state"

Proposals include slashing government database projects 17 Sep 2009

Senior Tories launch attack on Cameron's green policies

David Davis slams "ferocious determination to impose hair shirt policies on the public" 02 Dec 2009

related whitepapers

today's top stories

Telepresence: coming to a screen near you?

Telepresence systems enable organisations to hold boardroom-style meetings with far-flung participants without the hassle and expense of arranging travel and accommodation. But while the technology is impressive, it does not come cheap, as Martin Courtney discovered when he sat in on a virtual meeting with executives from Philips 10 Mar 2010

Users give their verdict on Azure

Some of the first wave of UK adopters met in London recently to air their views on Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. Dave Bailey listened in 10 Mar 2010

Protests greet new Digital Economy Bill amendment

ISPs, digital rights groups and Liberal Democrat supporters cry foul 05 Mar 2010

Publishing special - Publishers innovate to survive

1) IT could hold the key to the future of publishing 2) Case Study: The Guardian harnesses social and mobile apps 3) How publishers are reacting to the iPad 02 Mar 2010

IT Leaders' Forum in association with IBM

A unique opportunity to hear from expert speakers and engage in a debate about the future of the CIO job function 29 Jan 2010

Advertisement

Keys to successful Service‐Oriented Architecture implementation

This white paper explores best practices and general design patterns for service oriented architecture (SOA).

The Roadmap to IT Maturity — Matching Strategy to Infrastructure for Business Success

This paper defines a roadmap for matching infrastructure strategy to business success.

Advertisement

Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; ITHound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

More available - click 'submit' to view

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Jobs

Related jobs

Job of the week

Job alerts

Sign up here

Find your next job

IT Salary Checker

Check salary here

Advertisement

Latest poll

NHS centralised data

NHS centralised data

Do you think the NHS can be trusted to safely look after personal data electronically?

View poll results

Latest audio and video articles

Video

HP unveils S Series notebooks

'Prosumer' line overhauled 01 Mar 2010

Web Seminar Listings

Preparing for enterprise-scale Windows 7 migration

The web seminar on 18 Feb will discuss how Windows 7 migration can increase IT efficiency in large enterprises, freeing up budgetary and personnel resources to focus on business innovation. Our panel of experts will examine the strategies, tools and services IT leaders can use to migrate successfully and reap the rewards of increased efficiency. 19 Feb 2010

Latest in-depth articles

LaboratoryFeatures

Finding the right formula

Drug and food testing company Eclipse Scientific wanted to make its internal communications system easier to manage and more responsive to the needs of employees and customers. Nicola Brittain reports 16 Mar 2010

Videoconference on a laptopFeatures

Get ready to roll

Moving staff over to a unified communications platform can have a huge impact on their working practices. Rachel Fielding explains how IT leaders can ensure the transition goes smoothly 16 Mar 2010

Primary Navigation