British combined effort against Cyber attacks

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 Nine leading British defense companies are collaborating with the government in a partnering scheme to prevent cyber attackers from stealing the industry’s secrets. This according to Defense news

The Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) has been working since May to bolster security in the defense supply chain here as concerns continue to grow about the activities and identities of cyber attackers.

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The announcement follows hard on the heels of the Ministry of Defence’s announcement that it is setting up special cyber reserve units to harness the expertise of industry IT experts and others in protecting military secrets.

BAE, BT,CGI, EADS Cassidian, Hewlett Packard, Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce, Selex ES and Thales UK are teaming with the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the MoD and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure to share best practices to meet the emerging cyber threat to the industry.

Trade associations are also involved. Jeegar Kakkad, policy director of lobby group ADS, said part of their role will be to help disseminate information and practice to the small- and medium-sized enterprises that proliferate the defense supply chain.

British defense companies have not publicly admitted to serious breaches of their security systems here, but Qinetiq and Lockheed Martin are among some of the big names in industry that have owned up to being compromised in the US.

Accountants PwC said in a survey for the British government earlier this year that 93 percent of large organizations and 87 percent of small businesses experienced a security breach of some kind last year.

The rise in breaches was particularly strong in the small business sector — up 11 percent on 2011.

The MoD said in a statement that the partnership aimed to counter the cyber threat in the defense supply chain by increasing the awareness of cyber risks, sharing threat intelligence and defining risk-driven approaches to applying cyber security standards.

“By sharing experience of operating under the constant threat of sophisticated cyber attack, the DCPP will identify and implement actions that have a real impact on the cyber defences of its members and the UK defense sector as a whole,” said the MoD.