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Britain Launches New Cyber Security Center to Face Mounting Threats | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Technical director Dr. Ian Levy shows Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip a robot vacuum cleaner at the official opening of the National Cyber Security Centre in London February 14, 2017. (Reuters)


London – Britain officially launched on Tuesday the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to face mounting threats of cyber attacks witnessed in the Kingdom.

The security center, which was formally inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, is part of a 1.9 billion GBP ($2.36 billion) move to promote Britain’s cyber attacks immunity.

In remarks during the ceremony, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said that the majority of UK businesses were not equipped to deal with cyber attacks, which he said were increasing in frequency and severity.

He also called on companies to work with the government to fight cyber crime.

“Because the government cannot protect businesses and the general public from the risks of cyber-attack on its own. It has to be a team effort. It is only in this way that we can stay one step ahead of the scale and pace of the threat we face,” Hammond said.

“The Internet revolution has transformed our economy”, he stated, “but it is also a source of vulnerability,” he continued.

“Business has to sharpen its approach as the scale of the threat from cyber increases and intensifies,” the chancellor added.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, a spokesman from the Exchequer Department said that UK has faced around 200 cyber attacks in 2015.

For his part, Ciaran Martin, the center’s chief executive, told the BBC: “We have had significant losses of personal data, significant intrusions by hostile state actors, significant reconnaissance against critical national infrastructure – and our job is to make sure we deal with it in the most effective way possible.”

“We want to make the UK the hardest target,” Martin said in other remarks at the ceremony.