The Welsh Government has unveiled measures to help protect the county from cyberattacks.
Launched by Economy Minister Vaughan Gething, the new Cyber Action Plan for Wales has four goals: growing the cyber sector, building a talent pipeline, boosting resilience, and protecting public services.
The plan, which brings together government, industry, academia, and law enforcement, is part of the Welsh Government’s Digital Strategy. The strategy sets a vision of improving the lives of everyone through collaboration, innovation, and better public services.
“Effective cyber defence and resilience, a strong cyber business sector and people, businesses and public servants who are cyber aware are crucial to achieving this vision,” the government said in a statement.
The plan sets out a vision for cyber in Wales and how the Welsh Government will work collaboratively across sectors. This includes:
Security and resilience: Ensuring businesses, organisations and public services take steps to reduce the risks and to prepare for, deal with and recover from cyber incidents
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Economy: An essential industry of the future with global reach, cyber can support the growth of the Welsh economy. “High-quality jobs within careers that allow young people to plan ambitious futures in Wales are crucial to our long-term prosperity,” said the government.
Skills: Ensuring Wales has the right talent to support businesses and public services with the cyber skills they need.
Cyber ecosystem: “Wales is leading some of the most innovative work on cyber, with one of the biggest cyber ecosystems in the UK and is home to global players in the cyber industry. The Cyber Action Plan builds on this success, seeking to harness the cross-cutting opportunities from close partnership working,” it said.
Bringing together industry, government, defence and academic partners
The publication of the Plan came ahead of the official opening of a new Cyber Innovation Hub in Cardiff. This brings together industry, government, defence and academic partners to grow the Welsh cybersecurity sector. The Welsh Government has invested £3 million in the new hub.
“Cyber is already a great strength for Wales, and we boast one of the strongest cyber ‘ecosystems’ in the UK. We are excited about cyber’s potential to offer careers for young people from all backgrounds who can plan their future in Wales with real ambition,” said Gething.
“The Cyber Action Plan I am launching today builds on the success we’ve seen already and sets out how we will work with our partners to grow the sector even further. We are committed to shaping a more diverse sector that is driven by talent and not held back by glass ceilings and Wales already sets a strong example with one of the most active ‘Women in Cyber clusters’ in the UK.”
