LONDON, 2016-Oct-04 — /EPR Retail News/ — The UK’s new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) officially launches today (October 3, 2016) as a public-facing part of GCHQ, through which the government will deliver authoritative advice on tackling industry wide cyber-security issues. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) fully supports the creation of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) because a key priority for the BRC is to work with authorities across the country to counter the blight of cyber-attacks and criminality affecting the retail industry.
For many years, the BRC has actively encouraged the Government to simplify the UK’s cyber security structures, especially those relating to how to organize public-private cooperation. Whilst ambitious, the stated aim for the NCSC to become ‘a single point of contact for the private and public sectors alike’ is an extremely encouraging development.
The Government has broadened its approach to industry engagement on cyber security, as represented by the NCSC’s remit, to cover all sectors of the economy. The BRC believes that the retail industry should be considered by the NCSC as a ‘sector of strategic or significant economic importance’, and that the new centre includes within its scope, regular engagement with, and new levels of support for, the retail sector in the event of serious cyber security incidents.
Hugo Rosemont, Crime and Security Policy Adviser at the BRC said: “Today’s launch of the UK National Cyber Security Centre is a hugely positive development. The BRC’s cyber security priorities are focussed on helping to protect the retail industry and the customers it serves, and we believe that the new centre offers a massive opportunity to deliver the integrated approach that is needed to protect UK cyberspace. Our work is also driven by the belief that an effective approach to ensuring cyber security across society demands strong public-private partnership working. The retail industry should be seen as a core partner of the organisation and we stand ready to engage with the NCSC in a constructive manner.”
For media enquiries:
Zoe Maddison
Communications Assistant, BRC
Tel: +44 (0)20 7854 8924
Zoe.maddison@brc.org.uk
Source: British Retail Consortium