The news that £4M is to be injected into the Government’s National Cyber Security Programme is a welcome first step in fighting cyber crime. However, no matter how well intended the initiative, more tangible measures are required to make an improvement in the sector.

Educating consumers and businesses on how to avoid falling victim to cyber criminals is a laudable initiative, but it's clearly not hitting the core of the problem. The public needs more than this to regain trust in information security at a national and international level.

Wouldn't it be better to protect users by enforcing standards that deter wrong doers in the first place? The current Wild West approach, where every man must fend for himself, needs to evolve into a regulated environment governed by laws, audits and accreditations.

The £4M could be put to better use by creating an effective, measurable tool of accreditation for data security. This would enable coherent regulation and help shape e-commerce and online activity.

Consumers would then be able to make educated assessments, and choose the retailers and websites that carry the trustmarks of Government approval. Only by correctly understanding the online environment and policing it accordingly, can we move from the Wild West of the Internet toward a trust-assured marketplace.