UK cybersecurity industrial policy: an analysis of drivers, market failures and interventions

ABSTRACT

The United Kingdom (UK) forms the largest internet economy in the G20 and has the stated ambition of being the ‘safest place in the world to live and work online’. Cybersecurity is, thus, regarded as both a challenge as much as an opportunity. Since the publication of UK's first National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) in November 2011, the government has implemented many proactive as well as reactive measures to enhance both its cybersecurity capabilities as well as its market power in this space. This article provides an analysis of the shift away from a reliance on market forces that dominated Western approaches to cybersecurity over the recent years. Specifically, it highlights three ‘market failures’ that have prompted UK's industrial policy responses: ongoing data breaches; inadequate private cybersecurity investments; and a continuous digital skills gap. An analysis of these drivers as well as UK government's responses demonstrates that the UK's cybersecurity strategy has evolved from an initial heavy reliance on market forces towards a more state-driven public-private partnership.

KEYWORDS:

• Cybersecurity
• industrial policy
• human capital
• United Kingdom

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Madeline Carr is Associate Professor of International Relations and Cyber Security at UCL STEaPP and Director of its Digital Policy Lab. She has a strong interest in the international policy challenges posed by cybersecurity and is Co-Investigator for Standards, Policy and Governance Stream of the PETRAS IoT Research Hub.

Dr Leonie Maria Tanczer is Lecturer in International Security and Emerging Technologies at UCL STEaPP and former Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. Her research focuses on Internet security and centres on the intersection points of technology, security, and gender.

ORCID

Madeline Carr http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6666-0595

Leonie Maria Tanczer http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2618-6208

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council: [Grant no. EP/N02334X/1].