Police and industry 'lack consistency' and must work together to improve response to cyber crime, says TechUK
Police, cyber-security industries and consumers all have a role, suggests Partners Against Crime report
Police forces and the technology industry must improve how they work together in order to fight cyber crime, a new report by techUK has suggested.
In its Partners Against Crime report, techUK - the trade association of technology companies in the UK - argues that the rise in cyber crime requires the police and industry to work together in order to combat the growing threat posed by hackers and fraudsters.
According to techUK, the volume of "low impact" cyber crime such as unsophisticated attacks directed at individuals and small businesses, including bank fraud and ransomware, represents a significant challenge for authorities, which lack consistency when fighting threats.
"This is a challenge that the police cannot be expected to meet on their own and businesses, consumer groups and the cyber security industry all have a responsibility to help tackle the threat," says the report.
TechUK has called for significant changes in the reporting and recording of cyber crime in order to streamline the process. These include a new lexicon for cyber crime reporting to enable the accurate recording of information.
The organisation also suggests there should be increased obligation for industry to report cyber crimes and that businesses should be encouraged to put basic preventative measures in place through initiatives like Cyber Essentials, an independent assessment that suppliers need to pass in order to bid for certain government contracts.
"Digital technology is revolutionising the way criminals operate. Police forces have made a number of positive steps to meet the challenge in recent years but they cannot meet it on their own," said James Murphy, associate director for defence and security at techUK, who argued that collaboration between industry and the authorities is a must.
"The ability to effectively tackle cyber crime remains the collaborative responsibility of civil society as a whole, including businesses, consumers and the technology industry. It's only by working in partnership with the cyber security industry that the police can access the skills, capacity and reach that they desperately need."
The recommendations are based on interviews with police and industry stakeholders and Freedom of Information requests to all 43 police forces. The report also suggests law enforcement should receive increased funding to fight cyber crime and puts forward the idea of creating joint police and industry working groups to share cyber-threat information in real time.
"Technology is rapidly changing and it is important that the police adapt with it. If cyber crime is to be tackled effectively, it requires a collaborative effort between the public and private sector to ensure that businesses and the public are protected and that confidence in the UK's digital economy is maintained", the report suggests.
Adrian Leppard, Commissioner of the City of London Police, welcomed the suggestions of the techUK Partners Against Crime report.
"This report highlights the challenges that cyber crime represents for policing. Within the context of shrinking public sector sources there is clearly the opportunity for private sector technology firms to work in closer partnerships with the police to tackle the threat posed by cyber crime," he said.
"Creating structures that work nationally to facilitate this will be challenging but we should wrestle with these issues as the threats we face are significant. Just as technological innovation helped the public and police win the battle against other crime types it has great potential to assist law enforcement in investigating and designing out cyber crime," Leppard continued.
"It's by working together we can share expertise and knowledge toward the collective goal of making the UK a more hostile place to commit cyber crime," he concluded.
Minister for the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, recently urged businesses across the country to protect themselves against computer hacking and cyber crime by taking up the Government's Cyber Essentials scheme.
"Good cyber security underpins the entire digital economy - we need it to keep our businesses, citizens and public services safe. The UK is a world leader in the use of digital technologies but we also need to be a world leader in cyber security," Vaizey said.