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The U.K.’s Home Office is allocating £63 million — more than $101 million — to fight the growing threat from hackers and other cyber dangers.
Theresa May, a member of the Parliament, said the funds, spread over four years, will come from the £650 million designated in October to strengthen Britain’s cybersecurity, The Telegraph reported.
The news will be welcomed in information security circles, The Telegraph said, citing how law enforcement, industry and academic figures have long complained about the lack of funding for cyber-crime policing.
The Police Central e-Crime Unit had its £3.5 million Home Office budget reduced by a third and has been forced to rely on favors of software and equipment from industry and some volunteers.
Despite the budget cuts, The Telegraph said, the e-crime unit has seen successes, including the arrests last fall of a cyber-crime ring that allegedly used the ZeuS Trojan to siphon £6 million from bank customers under a three-month period.
However, detectives are worried about the fate of the unit, which is expected to be integrated into the new National Crime Agency along with the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It will be the second time in five years the U.K.’s cyber-policing structure has been effectively terminated, The Telegraph said.
