High time to take on challenge posed by cyber threats: Britain

NEW DELHI: Pitching for an effective global mechanism to deal with cyber threats in the wake of spiralling growth of Internet, Britain today said it can jointly work with India on new avenues of research to make online space safer.

Marcus Winsley, Head of the Press and Communication Group of British High Commission in India, noted that UK holds a major stake in cyber security as the country loses around 2.2 billion pounds annually due to cyber crimes.

He said that with Internet taking the centre-stage in policy formations worldwide, it was high time for a productive discussion on how a safe global cyber space can be created.

London is hosting the first of its kind two-day global conference on cyber security from tomorrow. The Indian delegation will be led by Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Sachin Pilot.

"It is going to be the biggest, first-of-its-kind summit on cyber security. With internet speedily growing as an important tool in global security, trade and communication, threats emerging subsequently can also not be ignored," Winsley said.

With growing Internet usage, cyber crimes have also grown, that too, vibrantly. UK is currently struggling with different types of Internet crimes, including Intellectual Property thefts, industrial espionage, extortion apart from cases of direct theft, Winsley said.

Replying to a question on bilateral cooperation between India and UK on cyber security, Winsley said that UK wants to "do a lot" along with India to deal with the problem.

"We can jointly work upon new avenues of research to make online space a safer one. We are already in touch with India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the same," said Simon Sharpe, Second Secretary (Political) of the Foreign and Security Team of British High Commission.