“New Government must prioritise cyber security” asserts ISACA

Cyber security expert Chris Dimitriadis, chief global strategy officer at ISACA, has outlined the tangible steps the new Government must take in order to strengthen the UK’s cyber resilience.

“Protecting the UK’s critical infrastructure from cyber crime must be a priority for the new administration,” urged Dimitriadis. “As cyber criminals carry out more sophisticated attacks more easily and more often, there isn’t time to undo the progress made to date and re-start. With 38& of cyber professionals reporting that they’re experiencing more cyber attacks on their organisations than was the case in 2022, the Government must build on what’s already in place.”

Close the cyber skills gap

It’s no secret that the cyber security space is severely understaffed, as confirmed by 62% of those cyber security professionals recently surveyed by ISACA. Reducing the number of cyber security vacancies is the first step towards protecting UK businesses and consumers.

“It’s up to the Government to make the UK Cyber Security Council an independent and self-funded body to standardise qualifications and give current and future cyber security professionals a clear roadmap towards building their skills and knowledge in the space to stay ahead of bad actors,” asserted Dimitriadis. “At the same time, businesses should be given information and financial incentives to encourage their employees to expand their expertise through upskilling and training programmes.”

Beyond people, it’s ISACA’s opinion that the UK Government should seek to establish the Cyber Governance Code of Practice to improve organisational cyber security and build national resilience, as recommended in the McPartland Review of Cyber Security and Economic Growth issued earlier this year.

“It’s not enough to just create it,” said Dimitriadis. “The Code will need to be promoted and incentivised through assurance and assessment schemes.”

Defending critical infrastructures

The Government must bring in regulatory frameworks to better protect Data Centres across the UK, with cyber maturity assessment being at the epicentre on the basis that cyber security isn’t a one-off endeavour.

“From healthcare through to financial services,” concluded Dimitriadis, “all of the UK’s critical industries have access to sensitive data, which means no-one is immune to cyber threats. With cross-industry cyber regulations in place, businesses will have no choice but to abide by them and limit any damage to consumers and their trust.”