LONDON, November 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

As the government's new cyber strategy calls for the public and private sector to work more closely on information security, the Cyber Defence & Network Security  conference in January brings together military cyber commands, government, critical national infrastructure and industry representatives to share critical information on current cyber threats.

Closer partnership between public and private sectors is crucial to the nation's future economic prosperity, according to the government's new cyber strategy.

Continuing to rank cyber security as a tier 1 national security priority and committing millions of pounds to bolstering its cyber defences, the UK Minister for Business & Enterprise, Mark Prisk, underlined in the report not only the opportunities for British businesses to flourish within cyberspace, but also the risks that face organisations of all sizes:

 "With one of the largest online economies in the world, valued at £100 billion a year, cyberspace is vital for the UK's economic prosperity. However as well as bringing opportunities for businesses and their customers, cyberspace also brings threats. That's why it's important that we help all companies, from big multi-nationals to our small businesses take some simple, practical measures to protect themselves."

The current nature of the cyber threat, and the strategies being put in place by leading organisations against cyber attacks, is set to be discussed at Defence IQ's Cyber Defence & Network Security conference in London in January.

Attended by the UK Cyber Policy & Plans Team and with a dedicated focus day on defending critical infrastructure and businesses from computer network exploitation, industrial espionage and intellectual property theft, the conference also encourages information exchange between government and industry on the best methods to protect networks from cyber attacks.

In addition to senior international officials, including Mr Andro Barnovi, Georgian Deputy Defence Minister and Colonel General Vladislav Petrovich Sherstyuk, from Russia's IISI, the speaker faculty features:

• Mr Christopher Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, US Department of State
• Major General Jonathan Shaw, Commander, UK Cyber Policy and Plans Team, UK MoD
• Mr John Stubley, Director, PSN Project, UK Cabinet Office
• Dr John Meakin, CISO and Director, Digital Security, BP
• Lieutenant General Rhett Hernandez, Commander, US Army Cyber Command

Full conference details can be found at http://www.cdans.org, and the full programme agenda is also available for download.

Contact: Calum Jeffray | IQPC, 2nd Floor, 129 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1JZ | Tel: +44-20-7368-9300

SOURCE Defence IQ