CYBERSECURITY

THE RESPONSE
In response to the increasing level of cybersecurity risk, governments, regulators and company board members
around the world are heightening their focus on knowledge and defences.
Government action
At a government level, spending has been increased to strengthen internal security architectures, while regulatory
oversight has been enhanced to protect public and private sector entities. The US federal government has been
particularly proactive in these efforts, with President Obama’s budget for the fiscal year 2017 calling for $19 billion
to be invested specifically in technology to protect high value assets as well as cybersecurity recruiting talent. 13
This represents a 36% increase year-on-year in Federal resources for cybersecurity.
US FEDERAL SPENDING IN CYBERSECURITY ($ BILLIONS)
20
18
$19.0
Investments ($ Billions)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
$5.5
2006
$5.9
2007
$6.2
2008
$6.8
2009
$12.0
2010
$13.3
2011
$14.6
2012
$10.3
2013
$12.7
2014
$12.7
2015
$14.0
2016e
2017e
Source: FISMA Annual Report to Congress, whitehouse.gov
Outside of the US, the UK government has also increased its proposed level of spending on cybersecurity defences,
setting aside £3.2bn for investments over the next four years, double the level previously. 14 The European Union has
also increased its level of spending, as well as launching a cross-border research effort between member nations,
in which it has provided €500 million of funding and is seeking a further €1.5 billion from industry. 15
Regulators are also beginning proactively to address cyber risk. In the US, the Cybersecurity Act 2015 was signed
into law in December 2015, a voluntary standard which is being adopted by companies to share information
surrounding cyber-attacks and ultimately form a collaborative effort to improve cybersecurity intelligence. 16 In Europe,
the European General Data Protection Regulation was adopted in 2016, which imposes strict requirements on data
breach notification and imposes fines on companies that fail to protect data or notify regulators of a breach. 17
In addition, there has been greater cooperation between countries in combatting cybersecurity risks. For instance,
in November 2015, US President Obama and China President Xi Jinping agreed not to conduct or knowingly support
cyber-related attacks for the purpose of corporate espionage. 18 However, while this is a progressive step, it is unlikely
that these initiatives will prevent future cyber-attacks on public or private sector entities.
13
The White House, 2016, ‘FACT SHEET: Cybersecurity National Action Plan’, February 9, 2016. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/09/fact-sheetcybersecurity-national-action-plan
14
E-Hacking, 2016, ‘UK Government will Spend £1.9bn on Cyber Security’, March 5 2016. http://www.ehacking.net/2016/03/uk-government-will-spend-19bn-on-cyber.html
15
PC World, 2016, ‘EU Plans $2b Investment in Cybersecurity Research’, July 5 2016. http://www.pcworld.com/article/3091708/eu-plans-2b-investment-incybersecurity-research.html
16
White House, 2016, ‘FACT SHEET: Cybersecurity National Action Plan’, February 9 2016. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/09/fact-sheetcybersecurity-national-action-plan
17
Allen & Overy, 2016. ‘The EU General Data Protection Regulation’
18
CNBC, 2015, ‘US-China Agree to not Conduct Cybertheft of Intellectual Property’, September 25 2015. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/
10 Amity Insight September 2016