皇冠体育app

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Hello and welcome.

Thank you to Reform and Andrew Haldenby for inviting me to speak today. Thanks also to Mark Hughes and BT for hosting, and KPMG for supporting the event.

I鈥檓 going to talk about cyber security today and how it supports our economy and prosperity. 皇冠体育app UK economy is growing and getting stronger. And it鈥檚 increasingly digital. 皇冠体育app way the UK is embracing digital and adopting new technologies is a key strength. We鈥檙e world leaders in areas such as e-commerce. 皇冠体育app digital aspects of our economy are of crucial importance to UK as they bring growth, productivity & prosperity.

As Sajid Javid said last week, it is part of the Government鈥檚 long term economic plan to improve productivity and support growth. It can reduce costs, and create efficiencies. But it can also radically change the way we do things and create new opportunities 鈥� from driverless cars, to block chain technology, to the exciting possibilities of quantum computing.

We also want to develop a highly skilled workforce, ensure there is world-class digital infrastructure in every part of the UK, and support high-quality science and innovation. 皇冠体育appse are all areas important to cyber security. At the end of June I gave a speech setting out the Government鈥檚 digital priorities for this Parliament: they included Europe, digital infrastructure, skills and cyber security.Good cyber security underpins the entire digital economy 鈥� we need it to keep our businesses, citizens and public services safe. Because the UK is a world leader in the use of digital technologies, we also need to be a world leader in cyber security.

This is why the Government is investing 拢860m in National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) to protect & promote the UK, and we鈥檙e investing in cyber security despite the challenges faced by the public finances.

A huge amount has been achieved since the Programme started in 2011. We鈥檝e transformed the UK鈥檚 approach to cyber security, with better knowledge & understanding in Government and industry. We鈥檝e put new organisations and structures in place to help us, such as CERT-UK and the National Cyber Crime Unit inside the National Crime Agency.We鈥檝e set up the Cyber Growth Partnership (CGP) 鈥� which I co-chair with BT 鈥� to support & promote the UK cyber sector. And, working in partnership with industry, we鈥檝e started to transform business understanding and response, by getting cyber security out of the IT department and into the boardroom.

However, despite the good action being taken, the scale of the cyber threat is still significant. 皇冠体育app recent Information Security Breaches Survey suggests 74% of small businesses and 90% of large ones had a cyber breach in the past year. 皇冠体育appse breaches can be hugely costly and damaging to businesses, which is why the Government will continue to work in partnership with industry and encourage business to take action.
One of our key priorities is Cyber Essentials. Cyber Essentials is the joint industry and Government scheme we launched last year setting out clear basic standards for cyber security. It is suitable for all businesses, large and small.If you adopt Cyber Essentials in your business, you will protect your business against the majority of internet-borne threats. It鈥檚 a no-brainer 鈥� and I鈥檇 like to see all businesses adopt it.

Hundreds of businesses 鈥� including many in the FTSE100 鈥� have already got Cyber Essentials. Firms like Vodaphone, Barclays, GlaxoSmithKline, Standard Chartered and National Grid.We鈥檙e encouraging businesses right across the economy to adopt Cyber Essentials. We鈥檙e really serious about this, because it will have a transformative effect upon the cyber security of UK industry. So much so that suppliers to Government of most contracts and services are now required to hold a Cyber Essentials certificate.

We know we need to make faster progress helping smaller businesses with cyber security. We鈥檝e already published best practice guidance for small firms and the Cyber Streetwise campaign is giving simple practical advice to companies.

To help small businesses further I can announce today that we鈥檙e investing one million pounds [拢1 million] in a new Cyber Security Innovation Vouchers scheme. Delivered in partnership with the Government鈥檚 innovation agency Innovate UK, the 拢1 million will be available through vouchers up to 拢5,000 for small and medium sized firms. 皇冠体育app companies can use them to protect themselves online, improve their cyber security and protect their intellectual property and innovative business ideas. 皇冠体育app scheme builds on a previous successful scheme delivered by Innovate UK and BIS, and the vouchers will enable small businesses 鈥� among other things 鈥� to obtain Cyber Essentials certification.

As businesses increasingly take action on cyber security, this offers the UK cyber security sector opportunities to sell their innovative & world leading products and services. We have a strong and growing cyber security sector in the UK. It鈥檚 now worth over 拢17b 鈥� up from ten billion 拢10bn in 2013 鈥� and It employs over 40,000 people, with exports growing at a significant pace. 皇冠体育app Cyber Growth Partnership has been supporting and promoting the sector, finding new ways to unlock growth and ensure UK firms can access to overseas markets. Innovation is one of the keys to the current and future success of the UK cyber security market. We鈥檙e doing everything we can to support new ideas, cutting-edge research and academic endeavour. We recently held an 鈥淎gile Innovation Challenge鈥� which brought together some of the best young minds in the UK to develop new cyber security products and services. We鈥檙e currently setting up a Cyber Security Pre-Accelerator to help start-up firms bring new products to market.

And back in March we announced two new Academic Centres of Excellence in cyber security research (ACEs) to help support cutting-edge UK research in cyber security. 皇冠体育app new centres are at the University of Surrey and University of Kent 鈥� and they are detailed in a new brochure which we鈥檙e publishing today. Copies are available here at the venue. 皇冠体育appse are some of the ways we are both improving the UK鈥檚 knowledge and capability, and offering opportunities for growth through the development of new commercial products.

To further support innovation, I can announce today new Cyber Security Knowledge Transfers Partnerships backed up with 拢500,000 of funding. This 拢500,000 fund will be available via Innovate UK. 皇冠体育app grants will encourage partnerships between academic institutions and cyber security companies and will also support growth and jobs creation.

Innovation is closely linked with skills. We can only innovate, grow and protect the UK if we have the right skills, now and in the future. 皇冠体育app Government has now put in place interventions at every level of the education system to boost cyber security skills, from the new IT GCSE and initiatives to support coding in schools, to new cyber security content in FE and HE courses. Last year we developed a free online cyber security course with the Open University. 皇冠体育app course is suitable for anyone with an interest and is freely available online over the next three years. I鈥檓 pleased to day that over 60,000 learners have participated in this so far. We鈥檝e also put in place free online cyber security training for businesses and employees. 皇冠体育appre are now tailored modules for small businesses, lawyers & accountants and 鈥� launched last month 鈥� the procurement profession. We hope to add more of these in future.

But we know we still need to get more people into the cyber security profession to meet our expanding requirements. Which is why I鈥檓 pleased to announce today the launch of 鈥淚nspired Careers鈥� a new online hub to promote the Cyber Security profession. 皇冠体育app 鈥淚nspired Careers鈥� hub is a one-stop-shop for information about cyber security careers, skills, courses and qualifications. It will help inspire young people & existing workers into the profession. I鈥檇 like to thank colleagues from CREST - the industry body for information security professionals 鈥� for developing it. 皇冠体育app new 鈥榟ub鈥� is available to see here today鈥� look out for the tablet computers in the reception area during the break.

I鈥檇 like to finish by saying this issue is not going away. As I mentioned earlier, the cyber threat remains significant, but the UK is well-placed to respond to it. We are also well-placed to benefit, and have the opportunity to grow a world-leading cyber security industry to protect and promote our digital economy. 皇冠体育app Strategic Defence & Security Review is currently looking at the future of cyber security and will report later this year. Whatever the outcome of that review, cyber security will remain a priority for Government and we will continue to tackle the danger posed by cyber attacks.

Thank you for listening.