Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle cyber crime.

Cyber security, including cyber crime, is a top priority threat to national security. This is why the National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 is supported by £1.9billion of transformational investment. We have boosted the capabilities of the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit by increasing their ability to investigate the most serious cyber crime, and we are continuing to invest in the cyber teams within each of the Regional Organised Crime Units across England and Wales.

We have also established the National Cyber Security Centre which manages national cyber security incidents, carries out real-time threat analysis and provides tailored sectoral advice. We have invested in regional cyber crime prevention coordinators, who engage with SME’s and the public to provide bespoke cyber security advice based on the latest technical understanding from the National Cyber Security Centre.

Driving up cyber knowledge and expertise at the local policing level is also extremely important. The College of Policing provides a range of courses for police officers and staff on cyber crime. The College are also working on behalf of the Home Office to create the Cyber Digital Career Pathways project. This project will create a Cyber Digital Investigation Profession across all of law enforcement, providing a career pathway and professional certification for Cyber Digital Investigation Professionals.

The Home Office delivers the Government’s Cyber Aware campaign which encourages the public and small businesses to adopt simple behaviours which will help protect them against the majority of cyber threats. Most recent activity to educate the public on the cyber threat and how they can protect themselves includes the #OneReset campaign to encourage greater use of a strong and separate password for primary email accounts, and, launching on 1 March 2018, a new research report entitled “A Call to Action: The Cyber Aware Perception Gap”, which outlines the need for, and benefit of, a collaborative effort to increase the adoption of cyber secure behaviour.