Government ups cyber security budget by £500m

The government has earmarked a further £500m to help the UK defend against the growing threat of cyber attacks.

Prime minister David Cameron said in the House of Commons on Tuesday that the rise in "unconventional threats" had made an increase in spending on cyber defences necessary.

"Over the next four years, we will invest over £500m of new money in a national cyber security programme," he said in a statement on the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

"This will significantly enhance our ability to detect and defend against cyber attacks, and fix shortfalls in the critical cyber infrastructure on which the whole country now depends."

The announcement is particularly notable as it comes in the same week that the government will announce its spending review, with huge cuts likely in virtually all departments, underlining how seriously the cyber threat is being taken at the highest levels.

The increased budget will be welcomed by GCHQ director Iain Lobban, who warned earlier this week that a cyber attack on the UK is increasingly likely as criminals continue to target national infrastructure networks.

"Cyber space is contested every day, every hour, every minute, every second. I can vouch for that from the displays in our own operations centre of minute-by-minute cyber attempts to penetrate systems around the world," he said.

William Beer, director of PricewaterhouseCooper's One Security division, welcomed the government's increased spending, arguing that it is vital to have trained IT professionals to combat this threat before it is too late.

"Fighting the cyber war requires an army of prize troops, and we just don't have enough of them at the moment," he said.

"The people element is often overlooked in building strong cyber defences, but this funding will be vital in attracting top talent into the industry as well as providing security professionals with the best training and support."

Beer added that it is necessary to fund this area of security because cyber criminals are becoming ever more adept at attacking and infiltrating systems.

"Computer systems in the UK are being targeted daily by highly organised cyber criminals and state-led operations from across the globe," he said.

"They are willing to invest in developing sophisticated attacks and, although it's impossible to predict the future, gaining insight into new developments will help to build better defences against potentially crippling attacks."