UK to double funding to fight cyber crime

The UK is to double funding to fight cyber crime to £1.9 billion a year by 2020, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.

In a speech at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Osborne warned that terrorists pose a significant cyber threat and raised concerns that ISIL could launch cyber attacks on the the UK’s critical infrastructure, including the nation’s electricity supply, air traffic control systems and hospitals.

Osborne also said that ‘we must destroy the idea that there is impunity in cyber space’, stating that the UK reserves the right to respond to a cyber attack in any way that it can and that the UK is building an offensive cyber capability.

The speech comes after the terrorist attacks in Paris, which ISIL has claimed responsibility for, that saw 129 killed and over 350 injured.

Osborne’s announcement follows Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge to spend an extra £2 billion from the defence budget on special forces to combat the terrorist threat. The Chancellor will also announce the creation of a new ‘National Cyber Centre’ at the GCHQ which will be responsible for responding to major cyber attacks on Britain.

Osborne said: "ISIL are already using the internet for hideous propaganda purposes; for radicalisation, for operational planning too.

“They have not been able to use it to kill people yet by attacking our infrastructure through cyber attack.

“They do not yet have that capability. But we know they want it, and are doing their best to build it."

Funding for an additional 1,900 security and intelligence officers at MI5, MI6 and GCGQ has also been announced, as well as Home Secretary Theresa May confirming that security will be ‘intensified’ at major events and UK borders.