Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help the public to protect themselves against the threat of 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.

The NCSP funds the Cyber Aware campaign which works with a range of public and private sector partners to encourage the public (and Small and Medium Enterprises) to adopt more secure online behaviour like using a strong separate password for your email account and downloading the latest software updates.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) was launched on 1 October 2016. The Centre provides a single, central body for cyber security at a national level. It will help make the UK the safest place to live and do business online and acts as a bridge between industry and government, providing a unified source of advice and support on cyber security, including the management of cyber security incidents.

The NCSC are developing a series of Active Cyber Defence measures, to be implemented by industry, that aim to automatically protect UK internet users from the vast majority of high-volume/ low–sophistication cyber attacks. These measures will block, disrupt and neutralise malicious cyber activity before it reaches users.

The UK Government can’t do this alone. The private sector has a crucial role and a responsibility in countering cyber crime so that the UK is one of the safest places to do business online and in which the public are protected.