Government backs international cybercrime agency

By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor

 
The International Cybercrime Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA) will be a coalition of businesses, the Government and international police forces such as Europol. Chaired by David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, the new body aims to stem the exponential growth of cybercrime, which it is estimated will cost the UK £27 billion this year.

Welcoming ICSPA David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said “The very nature of this threat calls for more than a national response; it demands a truly global response and that is what ICSPA is all about. It is forming a network powerful enough and wide enough, to face down cybercrime.”

The new, not-for-profit organisation will be led by businesses including McAfee and Visa Europe and aims to share the burdens of tackling cybercrime across countries around the world. Funding will also come from currently available money from the EU and individual governments. Chief Executive John Lyons said the new body would aim to make more secure systems friendly for users. He added that ICSPA was “our best chance of taking on cybercrime groups who feel they have free reign to do what they like on the Internet with little risk of being apprehended or disrupted”. Last year the Government identified cybercrime as second only to terrorism in its threat to the UK.

Speaking at the launch, James Brokenshire MP, Home Office Minister for Crime and Security said, “Criminals aren’t inconvenienced by national boundaries and cybercrime is a truly global problem. ICSPA and its partnership with Europol will bring together a range of resources, tools and expertise to crackdown on cybercriminals and strengthen our response to online crime.”

Mr Blunkett praised the Government’s £650million commitment to fighting cybercrime and added that “The intention is to add value, to respond by identifying specific law enforcement need and, over time, to demonstrate by outcome the way in which international links can be extended – the last six months have dealt a blow to the sceptics who doubted the potential for disruption and commercial damage to very large scale business and very sophisticated international organisations.” Telegraph