Britain's cybersecurity arrangements will receive
intense scrutiny from government agencies when the final report
onDigital
Britainis published in June.
The flooding of a key
BT 21st Century Network (21CN) switch last year by a blocked
storm drain, which raised concerns about the resilience of the UK's
communications networks, has prompted new concerns about
cybersecurity.
The event prompted a rethink in the Cabinet Office, and may lead
to the appointment of a national cybersecurity czar, similar to the
US.
It has also led to a re-evaluation of the threats posed by
cyber-espionage, with national cybersecurity expected to be
highlighted in the next National Security Strategy document now in
preparation.
The
original strategy document, published in March 2008, mentioned
the threats posed by spies, terrorists and criminals via the
internet, but there was no specific mention of action to deal with
them.
However, government has taken steps to reduce its exposure. It
is reducing the number of points through which government computers
access the internet. Most civilian access points are being
consolidated into the
Government Gateway and
Directgov
portals. This follows
revelations two years ago that thousands of government
computers and websites were essentially open to the internet.
This is in line with moves in the US to have fewer systems open
to the internet. Further measures are expected when President Obama
announces the results of a 60-day
cybersecurity review, possibly this week.
MI5 director general Jonathan Evans also wrote to the top 300 UK
firms in November 2007, warning of the threat posed by the
internet.
| National Security Strategy |
|---|
| The National Security Strategy published just over a year ago
noted the use of modern telecommunications tools by other states,
terrorists and organised criminals, but failed to give explicit
guidance on counter-measures.
"The degree of structure and level of professionalism exhibited
by those groups vary, but they often work together, exploiting
modern travel and communications (especially the internet) to share
information, personnel and training, and to spread a common
ideology. This allowed them to work together in ways that were not
possible in the past," it said. "The UK does, however, remain subject to high levels of covert
non-military activity by foreign intelligence organisations," it
said. "A number of countries continue to devote considerable time
and energy to trying to obtain political and economic intelligence,
and trying to steal sensitive technology on civilian and military
projects. They increasingly combine traditional intelligence
methods with new and sophisticated technical attacks, attempting to
penetrate computer networks through the internet." The main threats were: - Terrorism
- Nuclear and weapons of mass destruction
- Trans-national organised crime
- Global instability and conflict, and failed and fragile
states
- Civil emergencies
- State-led threats to the UK
- Challenges to the rules-based international system
- Climate change
- Competition for energy
- Poverty, inequality and poor governance
- Global trends, such as the banking
crisis
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