UK government to host global cyber crime meeting in November

The UK is to invite governments from around the world to a meeting in November to discuss the challenges posed by cyber crime.

Foreign secretary William Hague said in a speech to the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday that the government must strike a balance between online freedom and internet security.

"I will host the first meeting of governments to address the challenges posed by cyber space to discuss protecting our citizens against cyber crime and cyber attack while ensuring that the internet remains open to all," he said.

Hague has previously urged governments to step up the fight against cyber crime, revealing at the Munich Security Conference that the UK government's computers were infected by a virus in 2010, and that he had witnessed criminals attempting to steal data from a UK defence contractor.

Home secretary Theresa May said in May that the government will pledge £63m over the next four years to tackle cyber crime as part of a £650m fund for national cyber security.

The government stated its intention to get tough on cyber crime in the Strategic Defence and Security Review last October, when Downing Street pledged a further £500m to a national cyber security programme despite cuts in most other areas of spending.

A study in February by Detica and the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance found that cyber crime costs the UK an estimated £27bn a year.

UK companies lose at least £21bn a year owing to high levels of intellectual property theft and industrial espionage, the study found.

The government faces a £2.2bn annual bill thanks to cyber crime, while taxpayers lose £3.1bn mainly through identity theft or other online scams.