Skills shortages threaten UK cyber security

London - Efforts to protect the UK against cyber crime are being hampered by skills shortages in the area of ICT and a lack of response by industry to the growing threat, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found

Cybercrime is estimated to cost the UK - mainly its industry and national infrastructure - between £18 billion to £27 billion a year, said an NAO report on the Government’s cyber security strategy.

The UK Cyber Security Strategy, published in late 2011, set out how the Government planned to deliver the National Cyber Security Programme through to 2015, committing £650 million of additional funding.

Addressing the challlenges to the strategy, the NAO cited government figures showing that the number of ICT and cyber security professionals in the UK had not increased in line with the growth of the internet.

There has also, it said, been a decade-long decline in ICT and computer science in schools and universities and a lack of younger people working in the area of cyber security.

“This shortage of ICT skills hampers the UK’s ability to protect itself in cyberspace and to promote the use of the internet both now and in the future,” the NAO commented.

Meanwhile, cyber security is still not well understood at board level in industry, where executives have difficulty assessing the impact of cyber security risks, said the report.

The NAO highlighted the need for partnerships between government and industry and within industry itself to reach a common understanding of risks and share the costs of protecting UK plc.

The development of cyber security standards could also help government industry, and individuals make informed choices about security products and services.

The NAO report said there was significant support for the development of industry-led cyber security standards, though it noted that progress in this area was still seen as too slow.

Among other issues, the report went on to highlight specific concerns about cyber security in relation to the government’s plans for smart meters, which will enable energy suppliers to collect meter readings over the internet.