Former minister slams cyber spending priorities

Lord Reid used his keynote speech at today's Cyber Security 2011 conference to ask why only two per cent of cyber security spending is going on innovation

Former cabinet minister and chairman of the Institute of Security and Resilience Studies, Lord Reid of Cardowan, has criticised the government for not allocating more money into new ways of defending the UK from cyber threats.

In his keynote speech at today's Cyber Security 2011 conference, Lord Reid asked why only two per cent of the £650m cyber security cash injection announced by prime minister David Cameron last year will go to innovation.

Lord Reid broke down the distribution of funds. "59 per cent goes to internal agencies, 14 per cent goes to the MoD, 10 per cent goes to law enforcement – I can't understand why only two per cent goes to the department of Business, Innovation and Skills."

He explained that to succeed in the fight against cybercrime, the government must engage with entrepreneurs, innovators and the general public, otherwise the cyber response will be restricted to a few government agencies.

He said this shows a lack of depth. "It should all be about the economy, its protection and growth. Citizens themselves are at the bottom of the list, with no investment at all. We cannot catch up [with the cyber threat] if our investment lacks depth.

"We need to invest more in business development, innovation and entrepreneurs."

He explained that this is needed to make the most of the opportunities presented by the internet, and added that without it the UK risks losing its reputation for good IT infrastructure capable of supporting international business.

Lord Reid recommended that the UK develops a set of policies for dealing with cyber threats, and that it defines the country's cyber leadership more clearly.

"We need to develop doctrines for cyberspace. These should define what happens when we meet an unprecedented challenge such as this.

"It's a conceptual framework that explains our strategy, and plugs the gap in international laws and treaties [for dealing with cyber crime and espionage]."

Secondly, he called for the creation of a taskforce to continue to develop and amend strategy, with a clearly defined governmental chain of command.

"We need to create a cyber taskforce with public, private and academic involvement to define our actions at a strategic level. This isn't a think tank, it's a 'do' tank."

He added that clear lines of leadership in government are needed.

"Who's in charge of this? Is it Francis Maude? The defence minister, or SOCA [the Serious and Organised Crime Agency]?"

He concluded that special zones in the UK should be set up to encourage cyber entrepreneurs to build the UK's cyber capability and reputation while also helping to grow the economy.

"We need to incentivise entrepreneurs by setting up cyber enterprise zones. This would create the conditions of California in Britain.

"Large companies want to see that too, so they will help with the funding. It needn't cost the taxpayer much."