Government invests £2bn in first 'cyber force' to combat online terror threats
The UK government is set to double its investment in cyber security to almost £2bn to create the country's first so-called "cyber force".
Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce the creation of the new National Cyber Centre which will be dedicated to tackling cyber attacks against the UK. The money invested will be spent over the next five years mostly to combat state-sponsored online attacks, however Osborne will also warn that terror groups such as Isis are developing increasingly sophisticated cyber capabilities, the Independent reports.
"Isis has not yet been able to use cyber warfare to kill people by attacking infrastructure, we know they want it [that capability], and are doing their best to build it," he will say.
"If our electricity supply, or our air traffic control, or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost."
“When we talk about tackling Isis, that means tackling their cyber threat as well as guns, bombs and knives.”
The new centre will be based at Government Communications Head Quarters and create hundreds of new jobs.