On 27 March, Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office (pictured), launched the Government's new partnership to share information and intelligence on cyber security threats.
The Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP) has been described as "...delivering a key component of the UK's cyber security strategy in facilitating the sharing of information on cyber threats in order to make UK businesses more secure in cyberspace".
The partnership includes the introduction of a secure virtual 'collaboration environment', where government and industry partners can exchange information on threats and vulnerabilities in real time. The CISP will be complemented by a 'Fusion Cell', which will be supported on the government side by the Security Service, GCHQ and the National Crime Agency and by industry analysts from a variety of sectors. They will work together to produce an enhanced picture of cyber threats facing the UK for the benefit of all partners.
Francis Maude said: "We know that cyber attacks are happening on an industrial scale and businesses are by far the biggest victims of cyber crime in terms of industrial espionage and intellectual property theft, with losses to the UK economy running into the billions of pounds annually.
"This innovative partnership is breaking new ground through a truly collaborative partnership for sharing information on threats and to protect UK interests in cyberspace. The initiative meets a key aim of our Cyber Security Strategy to make the UK one of the safest places to do business in cyberspace. As part of our investment in a transformative National Cyber Security Programme; we are pleased to provide a trusted platform to facilitate this project."
The scheme was flagged up earlier in the month by James Brokenshire, Homes Office Parliamentary Under Secretary of State responsible for crime and security.
Speaking at a briefing on cyber security hosted by BCS, the Institute for IT – formerly the British Computer Society – he said that the programme ..."will provide a new forum in which government, law enforcement, industry and academia can regularly come together to tackle cyber crime more effectively".
The minister also used his BCS appearance to announce the creation of the new Cyber Crime Reduction Partnership. Led jointly by Brokenshire and universities and science minister David Willetts, the partnership is to bring together police, industry experts and academics to tackle threats from organised and global cyber criminals.
"This government is committed to tackling this threat and we have already had great success," he said. "But we want to go further and through the creation of the National Cyber Crime Unit within the NCA and innovations such as the new Cyber Crime Reduction Partnership, I am confident we can bring these criminals to justice."