'The stakes could hardly be higher,' George Osborne doubles spending on cyber crime amid IS threat
George Osborne has announced that he will double spending on fighting cyber crime as he warned Britain's infrastructure is in danger of deadly cyber attacks by so-called Islamic State militants.
Giving an unprecedented speech at the UK's secretive government intelligence organisation, GCHQ, the Chancellor said that "the stakes could hardly be higher."
"If our electricity supply, or our air traffic control, or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost," he said.
Osborne said public spending on cyber security will be almost doubled to a total of £1.9 billion over the period to 2020.
The announcement comes in the wake of Friday's Paris atrocities, in which at least 129 people were killed in attacks claimed by the militants, but Mr Osborne said that the decision to boost cyber defence funding had been taken before the attacks.
"We must act as one, just as out enemies see us as one," he told an audience of intelligence agents, who he called "unsung heroes."
Mr Osborne defended the expenditure ahead of an expected announcement of fresh overall spending cuts next week.
"It is right that we choose to invest in our cyber defences even at a time when we must cut other budgets," he said. "The internet represents a critical axis of potential vulnerability."
He said that it was important for Britain to be able to launch "counter-attacks" on hackers, terror groups, rogue states and criminal gangs in cyber space in any way it chooses and will commit resources over the next five years to developing deterrents.
"We will defend ourselves and we will also take the fight to you," he said. "Impunity no longer exists."
Mr Osborne detailed a "bold, comprehensive" national cyber security plan that includes:
A dedicated force to ensure faster and more effective responses to major online attacks
Possible cooperation between Internet service providers, with help from the government, to fend off malware attacks and block bad addresses used against British internet users
A new institute to train coders, drawing on "deep expertise" of experts at GCHQ
A £20 million competition to open an institute of coding for next generation of coders
A major programme for 14-17 year olds modelled on a successful Israeli programme to find "hidden talent" in classrooms
Two cyber innovation centres where start-ups can gain support in early stages
He said the plan will not provide "hermetic protection" from cyber attacks but will make Britain one of the best protected countries in the world.
David Cameron said on Monday that the size of Britain's intelligence agency staff will be increased by 15%.