UK leads discussions on boosting global cyber skills

The UK has convened international leaders in a bid to fix the global cybersecurity crisis.

Representatives from 15 countries have gathered in West Sussex to discuss how to boost cyber skills across the world, as new statistics show almost half of UK businesses lack the expertise to tackle cyber-crime.

During the three-day event countries, including EU member states, the US, Japan, Australia and African nations, and international organisations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will work to put cyber on the global agenda.

Cybersecurity minister Feryal Clark said: “The UK needs a significant improvement in its cyber defences after the previous government failed to strengthen our cyber laws – we’re fixing that. 

“Later this year, we’ll bring forward new measures to better protect the nation from cyber-crime and our new regional skills programme will support the next generation of cyber talent and innovators.”

The government has also launched a new scheme to deliver “tailored” support across regions of England and Northern Ireland but fell short of announcing any support for Scotland.

Organisations such as universities and local councils will be able to apply for a share of a £1.3m fund to provide cyber skill straining.

Winners will be announced in May 2025, and receive grants of up to £150,000.  

Clark continued: “But this is a shared challenge, which is why we’re bringing together global allies to discuss and agree on steps to keep us safe online, improve cyber skills and protect our economy and public services.”

The event follows on from a string of high-profile cyber incidents within the UK and abroad. Earlier this year, NHS Dumfries and Galloway suffered a breach that led to a “large volume” of data being leaked to the dark web.

Also, last week, Transport for London revealed it did not know how long it would take for it to recover from the “very sophisticated” cyber-attack it suffered earlier this month.