UK needs cyber minister to keep pace with Russian threat

BRITAIN must appoint a minister for cyber security because it is lagging behind Russia and not doing enough to protect critical national infrastructure (CNI), MPS and peers have warned.

The joint committee on national security strategy found ministers were failing to act with “a meaningful sense of purpose or urgency” in the face of the growing cyber threat to the UK.

It said while states such as Russia were expanding their capability to mount disruptive cyber attacks, the level of ministerial oversight in the UK was “wholly inadequate”.

It urged Theresa May to appoint a single cyber security minister in the Cabinet Office to take charge of the efforts to build national resilience.

The committee noted that the Government had come to the conclusion that a major cyber attack on the UK’S CNI represented a “top tier” threat to national security, but said ministers’ efforts had failed to match the level of risk.

“While we applaud the aspiration, it appears the Government is not delivering on it with a meaningful sense of purpose or urgency,” it said.

“Day-to-day oversight of cross-government efforts is, in reality, led by officials, with ministers only occasionally ‘checking in’.”

The committee welcomed the establishment of the National Cyber Security Centre but expressed concerns that expectations of what it could achieve were “outstripping the resources put at its disposal”.

A Government spokesman said: “Ensuring our CNI is secure and resilient against cyber attacks is a priority, which is why we are investing £1.9billion to improve our cyber capabilities.”