Government needs to work on cyber security, says MPs

Have you ever been affected by a cyberattack?

According to MPs, the UKs ability to tackle cyberattacks is being put under threat because of skills shortages and “chaotic” handling of personal data breaches.

Cyberattacks are one of the top four risks to UK national security and have been for the past six years, however it looks as though there has been no coordination across the public sector. This is according to a report by the Public Accounts Committee.

Committee chair and Labour MP Meg Hillier said: “Government has a vital role to play in cyber security across society but it needs to raise its game.”

“Its approach to handling personal data breaches has been chaotic and does not inspire confidence in its ability to take swift, coordinated and effective action in the face of higher-threat attacks.”

The report found that reporting across Whitehall departments varied massively, some reported thousands of data breaches whereas others didn’t record any.

The report warned that without a “consistent approach” in dealing with security incidents, the Cabinet Office was “unable to make informed decisions about where to direct and prioritise its attention”.

Hillier also spoke of the fact that Britain ranked below Brazil, South Africa and China when it comes to keeping phones and laptops secure.

A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said: “In the four months since becoming operational, the NCSC has transformed how the UK deals with cyber security by offering incident management capabilities, fostering technical innovation to help prevent attacks and providing real-time cyber threat information to 3,000 organisations from over 20 different industries.”