Cyberterrorism was the watch word last week. The Prime Minister named it as one of the gravest security threats to the UK, whilst various members of his cabinet found opportunity to expound their own concerns (backed up with numerous statistics) in media ranging from The Guardian to Radio 4.
Yet for all their rhetoric, I was left feeling a little cynical.
Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely agree with what they’re saying: cyberterrorism is a very real, very life threatening reality that comes with living in a digital age. But it’s not exactly a new threat –Die Hard 4 anyone? – and for me what is less clear is the role the government needs to play in preventing it.
Unlike the army, navy and air force – all of which are seeing major cuts – there is already a huge private sector dedicated to providing network and data security software. Gartner is predicting an 11% growth in software security revenue to more than £10bn this year – this shows that businesses and consumers are taking responsibility for their own protection and are willing to invest as such.
So how does the government intend to help? All will be revealed in the spending review, but let’s hope it is going to be a little more effectively than last year, when the BBC received £205,000 from the government to make a special Afghani series of Woman’s Hour…
Happy selling
Tom
