Members of Parliament at the UK have recently pointed out the country’s lack of leadership in the cybersecurity domain. Unfortunately, there seems to be no individual minister that has been assigned charge of the nation’s cybersecurity.
MP Speaks Her Mind
Recently Margaret Beckett, a Member of the Parliament (MP) belonging to the Labour party reportedly made the following statement:
We are struck by the absence of political leadership at the centre of Government in responding to this top-tier national security threat.
UK’s Parliamentary Structural Defects
Beckett is also a part of the National Security Strategy’s Joint Committee. She has made a valid point because the UK does not have a designated minister to spearhead its cybersecurity needs. The UK, a nation that is in the middle of a series of cyber attacks needs to gear up for the future. Unfortunately, this nation has not rid itself of its archaic structure and fails to be dynamic when most required.
To fill that void, the aforementioned Joint Committee has put forth a request to make a suitable appointment before Theresa May, the UK’s Prime Minister. Therefore, the UK’s Cabinet of Ministers could soon see a fresh appointment.
Beckett has been extremely vocal about the country’s sheer need to find an appropriate fit to spearhead the nation’s cybersecurity requirements. It may be recollected that the UK suffered a massive blow during the 2017 WannaCry Ransomware attacks. Soon after that, the Nation’s leaders should have made the necessary arrangements to secure their IT infrastructure from future attacks. The UK continues to point fingers at Russia and anticipates further cyber attacks in the near future.
The Future of Cybersecurity in the UK
It is worth noting that the National Cyber Security Center at the UK anticipates further attacks from hostile nations and has therefore rolled out a 1.9 billion pound allocation towards its National Cyber Security Programme designed to safeguard its IT infrastructure. However, beyond that figure, the UK Government has not disclosed anything about its future plans pertaining to cybersecurity.