UK moves to ‘active cyber-defence’

The BBC is reporting that the head of the UK’s new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has said Britain is moving towards more active defence in cyberspace.

Ciaran Martin, the chief executive of the NCSC has said that the centre will be responsible for protecting government and critical infrastructure against cyber attacks. The Centre, which is due to launch in October, will also be looking at ways to engage with both businesses and the public.

It plans to develop automated defences against the majority of high volume, but relatively unsophisticated cyber attacks.

“Mr Martin said retaining public confidence in online transactions and ensuring economic growth was a priority in the same way as protecting national security.

Last year, twice as many “national-security-level cyber-incidents” were detected compared with a year before, amounting to about 200 per month.

The attacks are not always highly sophisticated.

The breach at the telecoms company TalkTalk used a basic technique dating from the end of the 20th Century rather than anything new.

“Far too many of these basic attacks are getting through,” Mr Martin said. “And they are doing a lot of damage.”

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