Not enough being done to combat Russia-aligned threats, cyber chief warns

19 April 2023, 17:24

Cyber threat sign
Business, technology, internet and networking concept. Businessman presses a button on the virtual screen: Cyber threat. Picture: PA

Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden warned that the ‘cyber equivalent of the Wagner group’ posed a serious threat to the UK.

More needs to be done to protect the UK from the threat posed by Russia-aligned cyber groups, the head of the National Cyber Security Centre has warned.

It comes as Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden warned that the “cyber equivalent of the Wagner group” posed a serious threat to the UK, as he announced that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) was issuing an “official threat notice” to operators of critical national infrastructure amid concerns about the growing cyber threat.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, as he made the comparison to the private Russian military company, announced plans for more ambitious cyber resilience targets for all critical national infrastructure sectors to meet by 2025, as well as moves to bring private sector businesses working on critical infrastructure into the scope of resilience regulations.

Lindy Cameron, who heads up the GCHQ arm, said: “I don’t think we are yet doing enough to protect our infrastructure from the cyber threats emerging from Russia-aligning groups.”

HSE cyber attack
Lindy Cameron, chief executive of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (IIEA/PA)

She told an audience in Belfast: “If the UK is to be the safest place to live and work online, then resilience must urgently move to the top of our investment shopping list.”

She said that there needs to be “resilience to all threats, whether they come from nation states or cyber criminals”.

It comes as she echoed the language of the Government’s recent integrated review refresh, referencing the rise of China as a technology power and the “epoch-defining” challenge it poses to the West.

Mr Dowden did not focus on China in his address, instead using it to stress the need for the Government and businesses to take seriously cyber security.

“Ransomware is no longer just a crime, it is a national security threat,” he told the audience as he stressed the key role cyber officials were playing in protecting British democracy.

Oliver Dowden
Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden (Victoria Jones/PA)

The senior minister compared global interest to the visible presence of an alleged Chinese sky balloon floating over US airspace to the less well-known threats to UK cyber security that “silently and invisibly breach our digital defence, both in the UK and the rest of the world”.

Speaking specifically about Russian-aligned groups, Mr Dowden that the NCSC “has seen the rise of several Russia-aligned groups, sympathetic to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine”.

Comparing them with the Wagner group, he said that focus had turned to the UK and its allies.

“They are now seeking opportunities to compromise our critical national infrastructure,” he said.

“Instead of seeking to profit or spy on us, their primary motive is to disrupt or destroy our infrastructure.”

He said that they were “ideologically motivated”, adding that it made them “more opportunistic and less likely to show restraint”.

Ms Cameron, who pointed to her “Derry girl” credentials as she addressed the conference, warned that it was “crucial” for cyber security to be built into future technology such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Pointing to the growing interest in tools such as ChatGPT, she warned of the danger of inadvertently designing vulnerabilities into AI.

“We as the NCSC think it is crucial for cyber security to be built into future technology and supply chains from the outset,” she said as he offered the semi-conductor industry as another area of focus.

Sir Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, appeared towards the close of the conference to warn that countries like China were now posing a challenge to the traditional technology leadership role played by the West.

Speaking in Belfast, he said that “everyone in this room needs to have a finger on the pulse of what is happening in geopolitics”.

Asked about the relationship between new technology and values, he said: “I think we’ve been able to take this for granted for much of the last 75 years.

“Technology developed in western, liberal, democratic countries, have driven our growth, have driven our prosperity, we’ve taken that leadership for granted and, of course, now it is being challenged in many ways.

“But it’s not just the fact we have new kids on the block, no longer kids, we have new lumbering monsters out there who are taking some of our tech leadership.

“It’s the fact that a whole range of new technologies are arriving at the same time, which are creating a wave of change, of transformation.”

“You have got the arrival of new peer powers to the United States and, of course, I’m talking about China here, that is using technology in some ways that offend us, that don’t accord with our values.”

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

A child’s hand pressing a key of a laptop keyboard

Charity ‘appalled’ at reports online safety laws could be cut for US trade deal

School children during a Year 5 class at a primary school

Education Secretary: More men needed in classrooms to be positive role models

Games controller

Cult classic Shenmue named most influential game of all time in Bafta poll

Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood (PA)

Parents crying out for online regulation, MP Eastwood says

TikTok is set to be banned in the United States later this week unless a buyer emerges.

Amazon makes last-minute bid to buy TikTok as deadline looms

Nintendo Switch 2

Everything you need to know about the Nintendo Switch 2

The Nintendo Switch 2 will release on June 5, 2025

Nintendo Switch 2: Exciting reveal, but why is it more expensive here?

A Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo confirms Switch 2 will launch on June 5

Tesla dealership damage

Tesla sales tumble to weakest since 2022 amid Musk backlash

The Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo reveals release date for long-awaited Switch 2 console

Roblox has introduced a slew of new safety features.

Gaming platform Roblox adds slew of safety fixtures for parents to monitor their children’s accounts

Meta's decision to change its content policies was heavily criticised by online safety experts (PA)

Majority oppose Meta’s rollback of safety rules, charity says

A child's hands pressing laptop keys

Regulation and technology can help combat spread of online misogyny, expert says

Raspberry Pi 4 micro computer

Raspberry Pi profits tumble after supply shortages

An RNLI lifeboat brings a group of people thought to be migrants into Dover

UK to work with allies and social media to tackle people smuggling adverts

A child using an Apple iPhone smartphone

School curriculum resources to teach children about risks of in-game purchases