The Economist

The EconomistAugust 4th 2018 Britain 23

E

AGLE TOWER a distinctively ugly high-

rise glowers over the Regency splen-

dour of Cheltenham’s posh Montpelier

district. However notorious an eyesore it

is also a valuable one; the tower is the cen-

tre of Britain’s cyber-security industry

worth about £3.5bn ($4.6bn) a year. Chel-

tenham used to have the feel of a glorified

retirement home. Now it is home to about

10000 techies more per person than al-

most any other town in Britain.

This makeover has a lot to do with the

doughnut-shaped building on the edge of

town which houses the Government

Communication Headquarters Britain’s

secret cryptography and eavesdropping

centre.UntilafewyearsagoGCHQ which

has about 6000 staff at its Cheltenham

site was largely sealed off fromthe outside

world. But that is changing rapidly.GCHQ

is playing a central role in developing a

cyber-security industry in which Britain is

one of the West’s biggest players along

with America and Israel.

About five years ago some of the agen-

cy’s more entrepreneurial staff began leav-

ing to set up their own companies beyond

the wire in response to a boom in the

cyber-security business. One of the most

successful of those original startups is Rip-

jar founded by Tom Griffin and other ex-

GCHQcolleagues. Based in Eagle Tower

Ripjar uses data analytics andAIto coun-

ter financial- and cyber-crime. It has ex-

panded rapidly. Earlier this year Sir Iain

Lobban a former head ofGCHQ joined as

an adviser. On July 23rd it was announced

that Accenture a big consultancy had

bought a stake in the company in order to

use its technology for its own clients.

Previously people who leftGCHQtend-

ed to be frozen out regarded pretty much

as deserters. But where Ripjar first ven-

turedGCHQhas officially followed. The

agency has acknowledged that as its main

purpose is to protect Britain from online

threats it is useful to encourage a prolifera-

tion of companies and experts that might

help it to do that job. This is part of the gov-

ernment’s larger cyber-security strategy

launched in 2016.

For a start GCHQ has created sites

where its experts can work with tech com-

panies. Thus the National Cyber Security

Centre (NCSC) was set up last year in Lon-

don. It is now recruiting a second cohort of

participants in a scheme called Industry

100 in which cyber-experts from the busi-

ness world can work alongside and learn

from GCHQ staff. A similar site called

Tommy’s (after Tommy Flowers the Eng-

lishman who built Colossusthe first pro-

grammable electronic computer) has been

created in Cheltenham.

More directlyGCHQhas started an “ac-

celerator” programme to kick-start or scale

up companies with bright ideas in cyber-

security. Nine firms have just finished a

year in Cheltenham in which each com-

pany got a grant of £25000 and office space

at a site called Ada (after Ada Lovelace

who laid some of the mathematical foun-

dations for the computer). The first compa-

nies have justjoined a similar programme

in London that theNCSChelped to start.

Licence to code

One participating firm in the Cheltenham

accelerator is Cybershield a startup that

specialises in detecting phishing e-mails.

Paul Chapman Cybershield’s boss argues

that having the company’s work scruti-

nised and approved byGCHQexperts was

the most valuable part of the exercise. Cy-

bershield also worked withGCHQ’s Socio-

technical Security Group which draws on

behavioural science to examine how peo-

ple interact with the online world—when

choosing passwords say.

More such collaborations are planned.

A “cyberpark” is being built next to

GCHQ’s Cheltenham base costing £22m.

This will mainly house cyber-security

firms conveniently close for expert advice.

Not everyone atGCHQwas happy to

be drawn into the world of startups and

unicorns. Robert Hannigan who founded

the NCSCwhile head ofGCHQ in 2014-17

(and now works for BlueVoyant a New

York-based cyber-security company) says

it was “quite a culture shock”. But Chris En-

sor a deputy director argues that making

GCHQmore open has been “hugely bene-

ficial” for the agency “making us think

more agilely.”

There have already been discussions

on how to take GCHQ’s baby steps into the

commercial world further. For example

Britain could copy In-Q-tel a venture capi-

tal fund set up by the CIAin 1999 to invest

in companies that could help the country’s

spies including the National Security

Agency America’s equivalent ofGCHQ.

In-Q-tel (whose name is a reference to Q

the quartermaster who supplies gadgets to

James Bond) is accessible and open argues

Mr Hannigan making it still easier for te-

chies to bring their new ideas into the se-

cret world.

Israel also holds lessons in the way that

it fast-tracks former members of its secret

signals agency Unit 8200 into successful

cyber-startups. It has worked hard to culti-

vate a pipeline of tech talent from school

onwards. Britain has copied some of this

with its Cyberfirst programme which

sponsors undergraduates to study for ca-

reers in cyber-security. But more could be

done in schools especially to get greater

numbers of women into the industry. Spy-

ing has long been portrayed as a game for

tough guys and smooth talkers. These

days the game is being won by nerds. 7

Espionage and business

Tinker techie startup spy

CHELTENHAM

Britain’s spooks get entrepreneurial

From Cheltenham with love