Giving every home in the UK access to high-speed broadband could cause a surge in security issues.

That is according to David Blunkett, who has warned that faster broadband connections will make hacking and other cybercrimes easier to perpetrate.

Mr Blunkett made his comments while speaking about the Digital Britain plan at the recently held Infosecurity 2009 conference.

However, he also acknowledged that a collaborative approach to tackling the problems could help to minimise the risks and added that security should be a priority for consumers, government and business alike.

The former home secretary told ZDNet UK: "We need to put together those dealing with counter-terrorism, those dealing with fraud, those interested in developing infrastructure and those dealing with inclusiveness and championing awareness."

Earlier this week, Consumer Affairs Minister Gareth Thomas revealed that the government is planning to focus on how to tackle online crime in a soon-to-be-released White Paper.