CyberUp Launches Report Showing UK Lagging Behind Peer Nations on Protecting Cyber Researchers

Ahead of CYBERUK, the Campaign’s report argues the UK can’t accelerate cyber defence with a decades-old cyber law

Today, the CyberUp Campaign has launched its new report warning that the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA) is holding back the UK’s cyber innovation, resilience and talent, leaving our defences lagging behind other jurisdictions like the US, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Australia or Hong Kong, which have moved to refresh their own laws to keep pace with modern threats.

The report from the CyberUp Campaign, Protections for Cyber Researchers: How the UK is being left behind, warns that failing to update the CMA could leave the UK’s legal framework decades behind those of peer nations – impacting our ability to attract and retain talent, investment, innovation, and overall resilience to emerging threats.

Ahead of CYBERUK, whose theme is accelerating UK cyber defence in the next decade, the report outlines how nations around the world have taken steps to protect their cyber security researchers from prosecution when defending cyber space, in stark contrast to the UK, which has not.

As one of the clearest recent examples, the campaign highlights how Portugal recently updated its Cybercrime Law to create a legal exemption for cyber security research carried out in the public interest, showing that cyber legislation can be used to modernise older criminal law. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, currently before Parliament, would be the UK’s closest equivalent legislation.

With cyberattacks costing the UK economy almost £15 billion per year, or 0.5% of GDP, the report argues the UK must act swiftly to keep pace with other nations and put its cybersecurity industry on the best possible footing to defend against these threats.

A spokesperson for the CyberUp Campaign commented:

“Cyber attacks are growing in scale, sophistication and severity, with a devastating impact on infrastructure, businesses and charities. While other countries have moved to refresh their cyber laws in response, the UK’s Computer Misuse Act hasn’t been updated since before the modern internet – hardly the best platform for accelerating our defences into the next decade.

Portugal has demonstrated how to modernise their equivalent law through cyber legislation. We urge the Government to follow this example and act swiftly through the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to achieve meaningful reform, or risk lagging even further behind our peers.”

You can read the full report here