Ministry of Defence to hire computer security experts
The Ministry of Defence has revealed plans to hire a team of computer security experts to defend the UK from cyber attacks.
Nick Harvey, the armed forces minister, told the Financial Times the move is a response to the UK’s increased dependence on computer networks. The project is funded as part of a £650m budget, allocated by the Government last year, for a National Cyber Security Programme.
In a sign of the increased importance of cyber attacks for all IT professionals, the project will also involve the Government working with industry and academia to reduce the UK’s vulnerability against cyber attacks, as well as improving the defensive measures against it.
Harvey told the FT, “What we are trying to do is to work up a cadre of experts who will drill into everyone across Government and our industrial partners the necessary skills and capabilities to deter attacks and cope with an attack when it happens.”
The MoD said in a statement that, in the future, cyber operations will be conducted in parallel with more traditional physical operations taken on by the army, navy and air force.
At the end of last week, defence contractor Lockheed Martin revealed it had been targeted by hackers in a concerted campaign against its systems.
Source articles:
Financial Times
BBC