UK government has warned the country’s infrastructure regulators about the cyber security threats and asked them to prepare for any attacks by criminals and terrorists on its IT systems.
UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, called a meeting of regulators for the financial, water, energy, communications and transport sectors with ministers and senior officials from the security and intelligence agencies, to discuss working in partnership to address cyber threats to essential services.
Vince Cable said: "Cyber attacks are a serious and growing threat to British businesses, but it is particularly important that those industries providing essential services such as power, telecommunications and banking are adequately protected to avoid disruption to our everyday lives.
"We can only achieve this objective through a partnership between government, the regulators and industry," Cable added.
"Today’s event marks the next step in highlighting the important role of the regulators in overseeing the adoption of robust cyber security measures by the companies that supply these crucial services."
The Bank of England deputy governor, Prudential Regulation Authority CEO Andrew Bailey said that it is essential for financial stability that the UK financial system and its infrastructure continues to work towards improving its ability to withstand cyber-attacks.
"To support this, the Bank of England will also publish today the findings of Waking Shark II, an exercise which tested the response of the wholesale banking sector to a simulated cyber-attack, which is part of the ongoing work recommended by the Financial Policy Committee to improve and test resilience," Bailey said.
"The role that regulators such as the Bank of England and OFCOM are already taking to embed cyber security in their sectors is vital, as set out in a joint communique outlining steps that government and regulators agree to undertake to help manage cyber risk across each sector."
