The federal government must play a significant role in cybersecurity. Societies won’t advance and economies won’t expand if they can’t offer secure and reliable digital connectivity.
Development of national cybersecurity defence strategy is essential to address the hazards that both individuals and organisations suffer from cyberattacks.
This essay will offer a critical evaluation of how the UK government has handled and carried out cybersecurity policies.
The Current Cybersecurity Landscape in the UK
Many organisations had to function remotely in 2021 as a result of the epidemic. Due to the new options it provided for cyberattacks, ransomware-related crimes sharply increased.
Attacks by phishers are also on the rise. Threat actors used phishing emails and SMS to entice individuals in by leveraging the epidemic and other current events.
In the context of cybersecurity, we also confront a variety of dangers from terrorism, espionage, and hostile foreign powers.
The increase in this kind of crime presents issues for the government. To reduce risks and preserve a certain level of public trust, they must put into practise effective strategies.
To manage the cybersecurity landscape, the government is currently up against a number of difficulties.
A Breakdown of Cybersecurity Challenges We’re Facing
Both nationally and internationally, the government faces a variety of cybersecurity challenges.
The UK has a wide range of local government cybersecurity challenges. While some attacks aim to disrupt services, others focus on data theft, extortion, and other major criminal acts.
The London Borough of Hackney was the target of a ransomware attack earlier in 2021, which resulted in the exposure of staff member personal data and the suspension of local authority payments.
The council has subsequently put additional cybersecurity safeguards in place and developed a plan to make sure similar crimes don’t happen again, despite the recovery being challenging.
Local administrations in Redcar and Cleveland were attacked in 2020. Due to the loss of services, it is believed to have cost in the neighbourhood of £10 million.
In order to combat such crimes in the future, the council upgraded its system across multiple sites as a result and put a greater emphasis on its cybersecurity strategy.
International cybersecurity challenges are also present for the UK. Strengthening cooperation and subject comprehension has been challenging since geopolitical conflict has continued to escalate.
To prevent foreign interference in elections, there has also been a push to tighten regulations for digital ads and other aspects of the industry.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life advocated for “more proportionate and transparent rules” in a report on election funding in order to better track foreign influence and enable Britain’s “highly complex” laws to keep up with digital campaigning.
How to Build a Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Strategy
A number of factors go into creating a good national cybersecurity strategy. These consist of:
Working With a Dedicated National Cybersecurity Agency
A government appoints a national cybersecurity agency to establish and oversee the national cybersecurity agenda. This entails creating a comprehensive portfolio of efforts for a national cybersecurity strategy.
In order to provide the best protection to all government institutions, these programmes seek to safeguard key infrastructure, mobilise response to crimes, and define cybersecurity standards.
Build a National Critical Infrastructure Protection Programme
Critical infrastructure is typically the most attractive target for cybercrime criminals. This is because it’ll usually have the most significant impact on the economy, society and overall national security should something happen.
To avoid critical infrastructure threats taking place, it’s essential to have a protection programme in place. This includes working with each vital sector to understand their threats and the necessary security needed to protect them.
Create a National Incident Response Plan
To lessen the effects of cyber events and accelerate recovery times, each government must create a national incident response and recovery plan.
For instance, when Hackney Borough was threatened in 2020, they required direction and assurance to help them out of this predicament. A national crisis response strategy can really help in this situation.
Define Laws Connected to Cybercrimes
It’s crucial to determine which cybersecurity issues require legislation and which ones don’t necessarily warrant it. This can be accomplished by creating regulations that pertain to cybercrimes and by routinely keeping up with developments.
Due to the nature of cybercrime, new illicit activities always emerge. Governments must be proactive, and here is where having a dedicated national cybersecurity agency may really help.
