UK TO LAUNCH NATIONAL INQUIRY OVER CYBER SECURITY

The government is set to conduct a national inquiry over cyber security in order to evaluate to what degree Britain is under threat from an increased number of global cyber attacks. The inquiry began just days after a claim was made by intelligence agencies in the US that Vladimir Putin was behind a plan to improve Donald Trump’s chances of becoming the next US president. The report monitors documents leaked to the GRU, a Russian intelligence agency, from a hacker referred to as “Guccifer 2.0”. The National Security Strategy Joint Committee chair, Margaret Beckett MP said: “The national security implications of the leap to cyber are a matter of increasing concern. Attention has recently focused on the potential exploitation of the cyber domain by other states and associated actors for political purposes, but this is just one source of threat that the government must address through its recently launched five-year strategy.” Cyber crime has been making a bigger splash in the UK of late, with retailers and banks being the most popular targets. Reported attacks against UK financial institutions rose by just five in 2014. However, in the year ending October 2016 that number is now 75, says the Financial Conduct Authority.