Losing the internet for a month could cost Europe and
the US at least €150bn in lost business, according to a report on
national security in the 21st century.
The report,
Shared
Responsibilities, from the left-leaning Institute of Public
Policy Research think-tank, today calls for greater international
and interagency cooperation to improve the communications
infrastructure's resilience to attack and failure.
As society comes to depend more and more on communications
networks, so the risk of failure increases, according to the
report, which was written by lords Paddy Ashdown and George
Robertson.
It said the government should create the cyber equivalent of
Neighbourhood Watch, where community residents volunteer to help
protect the neighbourhood against criminals.
Much of the technical community is presently trying to protect
the internet against unwarranted intrusion by the state, it said.
"How much better if the state were to earn their trust and recruit
their help towards achieving shared goals," it said.
The report comes less than a week after the government announced
plans to hire and train "white hat hackers" to search and destroy
cyber spies and criminals. It also proposed to increase diplomatic
and interagency cooperation to facilitate law enforcement in
cyberspace.
The IPPR described the government's moves as "too timid, slow
and complacent". Speaking ahead of the government's announcement,
the IPPR's deputy commissioner on national security, Ian Kearns,
said, "The government has not gone far enough [on cybersecurity]
and on energy security. The government is still being far too
complacent."
The IPPR said that in addition to creating an internet
Neighbourhood Watch, the government should increase its political
and financial support for global action to enhance cybersecurity.
Concerted action is needed to support and build on the work of the
European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), it
said.
The government should also sponsor a programme to create
reliable and secure standard software programs such as simple
operating systems, database management systems and graphical user
interfaces.
"These could form the secure core for a wide range of systems
within the critical national infrastructure and associated
services," it said.