The UK government is looking to boost cybersecurity through a new £70m investment commitment.
Its aim is to boost the security and protections of devices and online services for both businesses and consumers. The £70m is being supplied by the government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and backed by further investment from the industry.
Through this funding, it will support the research for the design and development of hardware so they can become more secure from the outset. The goal is to ‘design out’ various forms of cyber threats by integrating security and protection technology into the hardware and chip designs.
Eventually, the government is hoping to eliminate a large number of the current cyber risks posed to businesses.
A further £30m is being deployed to ensure smart systems, like internet of things devices, are safe and secure. This funding will be delivered by UK Research and Innovation through the Strategic Priorities Fund.
Business Secretary Greg Clark said, “This could be a real step-change in computer and online security, better protecting businesses, services and consumers from cyber-attacks resulting in benefits for consumers and the economy. With businesses having to invest more and more in tackling ever more complex cyber-attacks, ‘designing in’ security measures into the hardware’s fabric will not only protect our businesses and consumers but ultimately cut the growing cybersecurity costs to businesses.
“This is our modern Industrial Strategy in action. Building on the UK’s heritage and strengths in computing and cyber security alongside the government and industry investing together to ensure the UK capitalises on its position to become a leader in the growing markets and technologies of tomorrow.”
The government is hoping for R&D to reach 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027, which would be the largest ever increase in public investment for R&D in the UK.
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