The Government must be more vigorous in its approach to cyber security, says the Defence Committee in a report published on 9 January. Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Today programme Major General Jonathan Shaw, former head of cyber security programme at the Ministry of Defence, argued that everyone using the internet had to become much more aware of the dangers of cybercrime in general. He called for a public education campaign similar to those in the 1980s aimed at raising the public’s awareness of its responsibilities regarding HIV and AIDS.
I would argue that this means LESS restrictive policies on access to the web in the workplace and more encouragement and education on how to use the web safely. There is little point in asking people to be more aware of dangers if they they have no idea of what these dangers are.
As the Guardian’s Secret Council Officer recently observed
I am not a young upstart or internet techie, but it breaks my heart to see local government believing that it is engaging with social media while describing its approach to new media as “cautious”. This type of presence without engagement is far more damaging to a local authority’s reputation than no presence at all.
He goes to argue that to be effective in social media, officers at all levels need to have their own personal experience of using it as part of their job. They should embrace the challenge to be able to explain their role using just 140 characters.
This level of engagement might not be what the Select Committee had in mind when warning about cyber security, but awareness has to start somewhere and the workplace, where we all spend a lot of time, might be a good place to start.