Streeting urges public to prepare for disruption from cyber emergencies

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that households and businesses should prepare for “increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks” and potential disruption to essential supplies.

It comes as households are being urged to take steps to be prepared if everyday services are temporarily disrupted.

The Government is launching a “be ready” campaign to provide advice to the public, including by gathering supplies and finding out how to volunteer to support communities during an emergency.

Mr Streeting, speaking at the opening of a new gun hall in Telford on Thursday, warned of the need to be ready for the possibility that businesses could be hit by cyber attacks that knock out supply chains.

He said: “It’s really important that we ask households and businesses, are they prepared, are they ready, do they know how they would respond in the event of everyday challenges that might manifest themselves?

“But we’ll also need to take the country a step further and ask them are they prepared for increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks on our businesses, are they prepared for the eventuality that there may be disruption to essential supply chains caused by hostile state actors or terrorists?

“How would we cope if the payment systems at the local supermarket went down?

“Those are the sorts of everyday challenges and threats that we could face, and it’s right that we ask the country to be ready for those things and ask everyone to do their bit.”

The Defence Secretary was speaking at the opening of Rheinmetall UK’s Shropshire facility, where tank barrels will be produced in the UK for the first time in 20 years.

The emergency preparedness campaign was launched on the same day, with the new advice being offered marking the first stage of a three-year campaign.

It aims to make households feel better prepared for disruptive events, such as severe weather, and comes in the wake of heatwaves, drought and fires that have hit the UK during the summer.

The steps advised include checking you have essentials such as three days’ worth of food and water as well as checking eligibility and signing up for the priority services register for specific support during outages.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: “Those who can follow this advice should follow this advice.

“By taking simple steps to be ready for everyday emergencies like severe storms, people can reduce pressure on emergency services, helping them prioritise people who need more support in an emergency.

“This is just the sort of community-focused campaign the UK needs to improve our resilience as a nation.

“It will bring us into line with European counterparts, where advice like this is a normal part of everyday life.”