The GCHQ security agency has stated that they are creating plans for a potential nationwide Internet firewall to protect the country from cyber attacks.
GCHQ Is Planning to Protect the Internet with a Great Firewall
The chief executive of National Cyber Security Centre Ciaran Martin has stated that GCHQ are considering the creation of a nationwide firewall to protect the country from cyber attacks. He reports that it is possible to filter the inbound traffic by analyzing it for spam and malicious content.
The proposed plan of action involves the configuration of automated measures that are going to be launched next month. They are going to be offered to Internet service providers in the country on a voluntary basis.
According to the reported information, the NCSC will be able to better coordinate the United Kingdom’s cyber protection policies. The proposed flagship project will help to extend the government defenses to private Internet service provides. That would help to create sophisticated DNS filtering that is an effective solution against some forms of cyber attacks and spam messaging.
Currently, nationwide operated firewalls are infamous for being used to prohibit access to certain sites and invading the privacy of the users by tracking their interaction with various web sites. The most well-known example is the Great Firewall of China which actively filters out content that is not deemed appropriate by the Chinese government.
A sophisticated firewall setup could help prevent the increasing waves of security attacks that are often attributed to foreign states or sponsored groups.
The reported security incidents are about 200 months, and they are growing at a double rate when compared to last year. This is Martin’s first proposal as head of the security unit, and it sparked several comments that raise privacy concerns among journalists and citizens. The National Cyber Security Centre is expected to formally open next month.
