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Higher Education Academy to administer new fund which will ensure high quality and innovative cyber security tuition.

With the digital revolution truly in motion, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) estimate that businesses now derive £1 in £5 of their earnings from the internet. Coupling our increasing dependence on technology, with the growing threat of cyber-attack (74% of small businesses and 90% of major businesses have suffered a breach in the last year), the government recognises the gains to be had from securing the UK's digital economy.

Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for the Digital Economy, addressed the Financial Times Cyber Security Summit this morning and revealed the latest research above. He went on to say: 'Good cyber security underpins the entire digital economy – we need it to keep our businesses, citizens and public services safe. The UK is a world leader in the use of digital technologies but we also need to be a world leader in cyber security.'

The Minister also updated on progress with the government's five year £860m National Cyber Security Programme. Vaizey revealed that 1,000 UK companies have now adopted the Cyber Essentials Scheme. This provides guidance on 'good basic cyber security practice' and offers two levels of assurance, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. Successfully accredited organisations are awarded a certificate and are able to display the appropriate badge in their marketing material. The guidance materials are available here. The 1000th company to achieve accreditation was Intel Security, a member of techUK's. With input from members, techUK also played a key role in the Government's consultation on the scheme and hosted briefings on its impact.

Building on Vaizey's cyber innovation voucher scheme announced in July, he was also pleased to announce the introduction of a new £500,000 grant fund available to academic institutions and administered by the Higher Education Academy, for the teaching of cyber security skills. techUK is fully behind government efforts to shore up the future cyber security skills pipeline. In its white paper focused on meeting the digital skills challenge, techUK members reported that cyber security specialists is an area where the skills gap is particularly pronounced.