Government announces that cyber will be a target for growth in the upcoming Industrial Strategy

Overview of announcements published during the UK Government's flagship cyber security conference.

During CYBERUK, the government published a series of announcements related to the sector.

The first one, delivered by Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is the welcome news that the cyber sector will be a ‘prime target for economic growth’ in the upcoming Industrial Strategy as government secures Britain’s future and delivers the * * Plan for Change.

Following the recent high-profile attacks on the UK’s retail sector, Pat McFadden highlighted the role cyber security plays in protecting other sectors and in unlocking the broader economic potential across the country. Indeed, his speech notes that the digital world presents a huge opportunity for the whole of the UK and that ‘turbo charging’ the cyber sector in the imminent Industrial Strategy will be ‘a blueprint for kick-starting economic growth’.

As part of the government’s commitment to growth, an independent cyber growth report has been commissioned to be produced in partnership with experts from Imperial College and Bristol University. The report will explore how the UK can maximise the economic opportunity presented by cyber security and deliver recommendations by the end of the summer.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster also took the opportunity to recognise the importance of public and private sector cooperation in delivering growth, pointing to the progress made by the Laboratory for AI Security Research (LASR) which has funded PhDs and researchers at Universities and think tanks, as well as pioneering research through 8 UK universities. An additional £7m of government funding for LASR as well as a new collaborative partnership with Cisco.

Pat McFadden also reinforced the UK’s international cyber commitment. The government will invest £1.1 million to the Moldovan Government to protect the country’s upcoming Parliamentary Election, as well as £8 million in the Ukraine Cyber Programme over the next year to counter the Kremlin’s cyber aggression.

Government launches a suite of measures to bolster cyber protection for individuals and businesses across the UK

Alongside the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’s commitment to targeting the cyber sector for growth in the Industrial Strategy, the government also announced a series of initiatives to give businesses and individuals stronger online defences including:

• A new Software Security Code of Practice to provide organisations developing or selling software with the essential steps they should take to secure their products.
• The AI Security Code of Practice which will today be adopted by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute as the baseline steps that organisations in all countries should follow to secure their AI systems throughout their lifecycle.
• The government will drive investment into CHERI – a ‘magic chip’ that builds advanced memory protection into microprocessors blocking up to 70% of common cyber-attacks - to help companies who bring these chips to market, find customers and break down barriers to adoption.