Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden will tell a conference in Manchester this morning that the recent attacks on household retailers are “serious organised crime”.
However McFadden will say that boosting the cyber sector will deliver the double dividend of producing home grown jobs as well as protecting growth in other sectors by improving cyber security.
He will tell the audience of tech experts and business leaders gathered at CyberUK in Manchester that the digital world also presents a huge economic opportunity for the whole country – with the average cyber salary in North West England already climbing to £54,600.
He will announce that the government will turbo charge the sector in the upcoming Industrial Strategy, which will be a blueprint for kick-starting economic growth to put more money in working people’s pockets.
To ensure the government pulls every growth lever at its disposal, he will add the government is supporting an independent cyber growth report from experts at Imperial College and Bristol University, which will quickly deliver recommendations by the end of the summer.
8% of UK cyber security firms and 10% of UK cyber security employment is based in North West England
For the first time last year, the highest proportion of external cyber security investment was in the North West, home to a growing number of cyber businesses and soon to be the home of the National Cyber Force in Salmesbury, Lancashire, countering threats from terrorists, criminals and states seeking to do harm to the UK and other democratic societies.
Pat McFadden’s speech follows cyber attacks on M&S, the Co-op and Harrods, which he will address, saying:
“Cyber attacks are not a game. Not a clever exercise. They are serious organised crime. The purpose is to damage and extort. The digital version of an old fashioned shake down. Either straight theft or a protection racket where your business will be safe as long as you pay the gangsters.
“What we have seen over the past couple of weeks should serve as a wake-up call for businesses and organisations up and down the UK, as if we needed one, that cybersecurity is not a luxury but an absolute necessity.”
Turning to seize the economic prize on offer, he will explain:
“But there is enormous potential for cyber security to be a driving force in our economy – creating jobs, growth and opportunities for people. It’s already a sector on the up – with over 2,000 businesses across the UK.”
“We want the benefits of the cyber industry to reach into communities all across the country. And that is why cyber will be a prime target for economic growth in the upcoming Industrial Strategy, as the Government secures Britain’s future. It is going to be a significant commitment, a vote of confidence in your sector, and one that will tell the world: the UK plans to be a global player in cyber security for decades to come.”
