The chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre has made a commitment to continue collaborating with experts and organisations across the rest of Europe after the Brexit deadline hits later this month, according to Computer Weekly.

Ciaran Martin said that irrespective of how the deal over the UK’s exit from the European Union plays out, there will be an ongoing partnership with regards to the measures taken to protect the country and its citizens in the digital sphere.

He also claimed that Britain would continue to provide unconditional support for member states and allies around the world, with existing relationships remaining unaffected in the wake of Brexit.

This is good news for consumers who want to carry out safe shopping online, both with UK-based sites and with retailers operating in other parts of the continent. While there may be issues with imports and pricing post-Brexit, there will at least be consistency in terms of the levels of protection that are available when placing orders via the web.

A lot of this is down to the sharing of vital cyber security data between nations and their respective agencies which tackle the threats that exist online.

Martin also spoke about the next challenges that the cyber security industry would face going forwards, with 5G network connectivity singled out as one of the potentially complex issues that would need to be overcome.

5G is set to arrive in the next couple of years, bringing with it significantly faster mobile internet access. This will not only improve the e-commerce experience for those on the move but will also mean that a lot more devices become connected to networks, leaving new avenues of vulnerability that crooks could exploit.

Self-driving cars which are hooked up to 5G could prove particularly compelling targets - hence the need for cross-border collaboration on next-generation cyber security.