Learning English

The fight against cyber crime

The UK is facing a growing threat from cyber attacks. What do the British government intend to do about it?

Language challenge

In this video, Sian and Neil are discussing cyber crime. What do we call a program that is designed to harm a computer? 

a) a virus
b) an illness
c) a disease

The answer is below the video (no peeking!)

Watch the video and complete the activity

The story

Measures to bolster Britain's online defences are being set out by the government, which is promising to make the country one of the safest places in the world to do business.

The Chancellor Philip Hammond says the plans will help protect the government, firms and citizens from online threats and will allow the UK to strike back against state-sponsored hackers.

Rory Cellan-Jones - BBC News

A year ago George Osborne announced that the government would spend 1.9 billion pounds on cyber security by 2020. Now his successor as Chancellor is outlining how that money will be used to shore up Britain's cyber defences.

In a speech later today, Phillip Hammond will underline the threat posed by hackers taking advantage of new opportunities like the growth of connected home devices. More will be spent on automatic systems, tackling spam and malicious software.

Key words and phrases

strike back
attack someone who has attacked you

vow
make a strong promise to do something; make a determined decision to do something

malicious
(here) intended to harm or steal private information from a computer

cyber
relating to computers

shore up
make more secure

To do

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Downloads

You can download the audio and PDF document for this episode here.

Language challenge - answer

The correct answer is a) a virus is a program that is designed to harm a computer.

End of Session 2

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