Finmeccanica's response to the UK Cyber Security Strategy

The publication of the 2011 UK Cyber Security Strategy provides a powerful call to arms from the Cabinet Office for Government, industry and society as a whole to ensure the UK does all it can to “derive huge economic and social value from a vibrant, resilient and secure cyber space”.

As a leading supplier in the UK’s cyber security market, Finmeccanica* welcomes the direction and priorities outlined in the strategy:

• A secure online economy as the key to the nation's economic growth
• Raising awareness in business and the general public of the threats they face and the steps they can take to protect themselves, (while recognising that total security cannot be achieved)
• Reducing vulnerabilities in government and CNI online systems
• Sharpening law enforcement and legislation to tackle cyber crime
• Tackling national cyber threats in line with NATO Strategic Concept
• Fostering a vibrant and expert cyber security sector to support GCHQ in its plans to improve national security

Furthermore, we welcome its acknowledgement of the need for strong partnership / co-operation across government and industry to ensure the development of:

• Improved collective awareness through appropriate sharing of knowledge
• Skilled cyber security professionals (including reservists to support operations in cyberspace)
• Enhanced protection, detection and response systems and services
• Industry ‘kite marks’ on cyber products and services
• Business opportunities for those organisations demonstrating a proactive attitude to cyber security

However, during such austere times, it is always challenging to find budgets and resources to implement new policy. Finmeccanica would therefore also ask what else can be done to encourage business to take up arms?

Can we stimulate the demand for cyber security services by, for example, offering business competitive advantage through grants and funds? Could government procurement policy stimulate change, for example, through additional evaluation criteria related to security standards in all competitive tenders?

What can be done to help businesses enhance security without excessive costs being passed onto consumers, business and government customers? More generally, how can customers be stimulated to price risk more seriously and accurately, in order to invest what is necessary to guard and insure against cyber crime and attack?

Finally, Finmeccanica recognises that the development of these capabilities is dependent not only upon the demand generated by a greater understanding of the threats that exist, but also on the greater demands for online services.

According to the strategy, “in 2011 around 74% of UK homes had access to broadband”. The vision of the UK Government’s ‘Digital Britain’ policy however, is to have 100% broadband coverage in the UK by 2012. With online demands of this final ‘26%’ sure to outweigh the cost per head of those already online – given their assumed remote location – the £47.2bn already spent online can be expected to continue to grow significantly.

The £650m allocated to fund the programme signifies a true commitment to the challenges posed by the threat of cyber-attack. However, given the internet economy’s nearly 25% contribution to GDP growth over the last five years, and its potential to position the UK as an attractive home for foreign investors, is there not a case for treating cyber security as a major element in infrastructure development and allocating resource stimulus accordingly? 

In much the same way that the National Infrastructure Plan is looking to generate investment in the UK transport infrastructure, future investment in the UK’s online economy beyond the sums in the cyber strategy, could be made through loans and grants for last mile and rural reach, grants for universities and colleges to train cyber security specialists, and large-scale R&D funds to develop UK IP for next generation network products, as well as cyber security and cyber-crime detection capability.

As a committed investor to the UK defence and security industrial base, Finmeccanica looks forward to continuing its collaboration with government and the business community to meet the objectives of the strategy and the ambitions of the UK to become one of the world’s most progressive and resilient online economies.

Alberto de Benedictis
Chief Executive, Finmeccanica UK

Download the 2011 UK Cyber Security Strategy (from the Cabinet Office website)

* VEGA is a key contributor to Finmeccanica's Cyber Solutions offering