The UK Government, facing an era of economic warfare, should appoint an Economic Security Minister, says a committee of MPs.
The Commons Business and Trade Committee warns that the UK’s economic security regime is “not fit for the future” and it risks becoming the “weak point in the West’s emerging system of economic security”. A case-by-case approach leaves industry uncertain, the MPs argued in a report. They noted that in August, a cyber-attack froze Jaguar Land Rover car production in the UK. The report points to ‘the potential public costs’, besides the disruptive impact, ‘of increasingly frequent cyber-attacks. Given this, it is essential the UK gets its approach right. From the evidence, we have identified three measures that would strengthen cyber resilience in the UK: introducing liability for software developers, incentivising business investment in cyber resilience, and mandatory reporting following a malicious cyber incident.’
Chair’s view
The Labour MP Liam Byrne, Chair of the Committee said: “Britain is now hugely exposed to the risks of economic warfare and bluntly, our current defences are not fit for the future. As a mid-sized, open economy, we are uniquely exposed – ever more reliant on foreign capital, foreign technology and foreign ownership of critical assets. Yet the risks we face are set to get worse in the years to come as foreign investment grows, AI lowers the cost of cyber-aggression and hostile actors become more brazen.
“After World War One, we had to learn how to wield economic power to deter our enemies and keep the country safe in time of war, building what became known as ‘fourth fighting service.’ But those disciplines have been lost and must now be rebuilt.
“The Prime Minister is clear that national security rests on economic security but in reality while our allies have modernised, Britain is falling behind.
“Just as we modernised counter-terrorism doctrine after 7/7, so we now need a comprehensive new doctrine to guide our economic security. We argue six principles sit at the heart of that new approach; detect, deter, diversify, develop, defend and dovetail — backed by an Office for Economic Security, a dedicated minister and statutory backing to provide long term clarity and certainty for industry. In an era of weaponised interdependence, economic security must stand alongside defence, diplomacy and development as the fourth pillar of Britain’s national strength.”
You can read the 117-page report on the UK Parliament website.
Comments
Simon Phillips, CTO of Engineering at CybaVerse, said: “This is a critical topic and it’s positive to see the NCSC and government calling for better security practices from software vendors. Every year, we hear about mass ransomware campaigns, where criminals are exploiting vulnerabilities in ubiquitous software, causing significant operational and financial disruption for organisations.
