Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

You think the CLOUD's insecure? It's BETTER than UK.GOV's DATA CENTRES

We don't even know where some of them ARE – Maude

Doing business in the cloud is more secure than owning your own data centre, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has claimed.

Speaking at the Cyber Security Summit 2014 in London, he said: “Doing things in the cloud is more secure than doing [it] ourselves. It is comforting to know where your data centres are - although in government we don’t always. But actually cloud providers live or die by their cloud security.”

However, that is not the widespread perception, he said.

On the question of whether most lengthy government contracts predate modern cyber security threats, and consequently have inadequate security provisions, he said additional protection is being built in.

"Often contracts are too big and long. In IT, no contract should be more than £100m, with no extensions to contracts, so we can keep up to date. And we should not have hosting contracts more than two years, as the cost [of hosting] is halving every 18 months. [So] that starts to help in that area because we are constantly renewing and updating."

The government has set aside £860m in its five-year National Cyber Security Programme, which is intended to develop the UK’s resilience to cyber attacks.

Maude said the government is also collaborating with other countries on cyber security research programmes, and has recently set up a joint research fund between Israel and UK universities.

The government has set a goal to double the amount of the UK’s cyber security exports to £2bn by 2016, a target it has claimed it is on track to achieve. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like