Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support and protection the Government provides to UK businesses experiencing cyber attacks.

The UK Cyber Security Strategy, published in November 2011, sets out how the UK will support economic prosperity, protect national security and safeguard the public's way of life by building a more trusted and resilient digital environment. A £860 million National Cyber Security Programme is in place to 2016 to deliver the objectives of the strategy. These objectives include making the UK one of the most secure places in the world to do business in cyberspace, and making the UK more resilient to cyber attack and better able to protect our interests in cyberspace.

Government is working closely with industry to address the threat and impact of cyber attacks. These measures include:

o Creating a National Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT UK which works closely with industry, Government and academia to enhance UK cyber resilience. It provides support to Critical National Infrastructure companies to handle cyber security incidents. The Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP), part of CERT UK, enables companies to share information and intelligence on cyber security threats.

o The creation of a Government approved list of Cyber Incident ‘Clean Up' companies which can help companies respond effectively to incidents and get them up and running as soon as possible.

o Advice and guidance resources including the '10 Steps to Cyber Security' guidance, the CyberStreetwise behaviour change campaign www.cyberstreetwise.com and the Government and industry funded GetSafeOnline www.getsafeonline.org.

o The Government-backed and industry approved Cyber Essentials scheme, which enables businesses to certify themselves against core technical cyber requirements and implement a basic level of cyber hygiene against cyber threats.

o Practical support for small businesses with the Cyber Security Innovation Vouchers Scheme to enable individual businesses to receive £5,000 to increase their cyber security.

o Support for industry initiatives such as Nominet's ‘Cyber Assist' pilot service for small and medium-sized enterprises experiencing cyber attacks.