UK's new £1,000,000,000 cyber command that aims to defeat Putin's hackers
From tech and logistics to airports and air traffic control, the UK has been in the firing line since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and more than 90,000 hacks have been detected in the last two years.
Attacks have been on the rise and so has their level of sophistication.
This is why John Healey declared that the armed forces must be given the upper hand in the growing online battlefield.
Speaking on Wednesday from MoD Corsham, the UK's military cyber HQ, the defence secretary confirmed that the Kremlin has 'stepped up' attacks.
He said: 'Certainly the intensity of the cyber attacks that we're seeing from Russia stepped up, and cyber is now the leading edge, not just of defence, but of contests and tension between countries.'
He said there is a 'level of cyber warfare that is continual and intensifying' that requires the UK to step up its capacity to defend against it.
Healey announced that a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command will lead this 'digital fightback'.
It will also oversee the £1 billion investment in upgraded targeting systems known as 'kill web'.
The government has remained tightlipped about it. What we know is that it will operate by using AI and new software.
In a new era of threat we're investing in pioneering technology to combat daily cyber attacks.As part of the Strategic Defence Review @JohnHealey_MP has launched a £1 billion Digital Targeting Web and CyberEM Command to coordinate the UK's defensive and offensive capabilities. pic.twitter.com/eG8ep5qerK — Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 29, 2025
It will connect military weapons systems across all three forces, enabling quicker decisions to be made on the battlefield. More Trending
For example, it could identify a threat using a sensor on a ship or in space and then disable it using an F-35 aircraft, drone, or offensive cyber operation, the ministry of defence said.
Healey added: 'Ways of warfare are rapidly changing, with the UK facing daily cyber-attacks on this new frontline.
'The hard-fought lessons from Putin's illegal war in Ukraine leave us under no illusions that future conflicts will be won through forces that are better connected, better equipped and innovating faster than their adversaries.
'We will give our armed forces the ability to act at speeds never seen before – connecting ships, aircraft, tanks and operators so they can share vital information instantly and strike further and faster.'
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Leader who killed 6,000,000 of his own honoured in new statue
MORE: The bizarre reason Russia wants to ban Shrek and other beloved animations
MORE: Putin threats to 'throttle' US firms like Microsoft and Zoom in words war with Trump
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
Russia has won war in Ukraine, Hungary's Orban says
BUDAPEST, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Russia has won the war in Ukraine, right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday ahead of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. In power since 2010, Orban has been criticised by some European leaders for his government's ties with Russia and opposition to military aid for Ukraine, while his cabinet is struggling to revive the economy from an inflation shock. Orban, who has maintained close ties with Putin even after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, became the only European Union leader on Monday not to endorse a joint statement saying Ukraine should have the freedom to decide its future. "We are talking now as if this were an open-ended war situation, but it is not. The Ukrainians have lost the war. Russia has won this war," Orban told the 'Patriot' YouTube channel in an interview. "The only question is when and under what circumstances will the West, who are behind the Ukrainians, admit that this has happened and what will result from all this." Hungary, which gets most of its energy from Russia, has refused to send weapons to Ukraine, with Orban also strongly opposing Ukraine's EU membership, saying it would wreak havoc on Hungarian farmers and the wider economy. Orban said Europe had missed an opportunity to negotiate with Putin under former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration and now was at risk of its future being decided without its involvement. "If you are not at the negotiating table, you are on the menu," Orban said, adding that he partly opposed the EU's joint statement on Ukraine as it made Europe look "ridiculous and pathetic." "When two leaders sit down to negotiate with each other, the Americans and the Russians ... and you're not invited there, you don't rush for the phone, you don't run around, you don't shout in from the outside."
Daily Mirror
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Russian forces break through Ukraine frontline days before Putin-Trump summit
Around 100,000 Russian troops are believed to have travelled at least 10km north of the Ukrainian frontline - days before upcoming peace talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin's troops have reportedly staged a sudden breakthrough on the Ukrainian frontline - just days before the Russian leader is due to meet the US President for critical peace talks. The unexpected push took place near the coal-mining town of Dobropillia and marks the most dramatic movement on the front line so far this year, possibly handing Putin a strategic advantage at the negotiating table on Friday. Reports claim around 100,000 Russian troops have moved at least 10km north in two separate thrusts over recent days, part of an ongoing campaign to capture the whole of the Donetsk region. Forces are also said to have pushed towards three villages in a section of the front near Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk. Ukraine's DeepState authority warned: "The situation is quite chaotic, as the enemy, having found gaps in the defence, is infiltrating deeper, trying to quickly consolidate and accumulate forces for further advancement." It comes after Putin warned of a nuclear war after unleashing another night of hell on Ukraine. Military sources say the latest assault relied on small sabotage and infantry groups to break through. Ukrainian officials confirmed that reinforcements had been sent to the area, and reported that some Russian soldiers had been killed or taken prisoner. The escalation comes amid diplomatic tension, with Moscow accusing Britain of attempting to disrupt the forthcoming Trump-Putin meeting. The accusation followed comments from Sir Keir Starmer, who insisted the Russian leader could not be trusted. "Peace must be built with Ukraine, not imposed upon it," Starmer said on Monday, as he expressed concern that Kyiv could be left out of the negotiations. Asked whether he thought Putin could be trusted, the prime minister's official spokesman said the UK supported both Kyiv and the US president's push for peace, but not Moscow. "Never trust President Putin as far as you could throw him, but we obviously will support Ukraine," he said. "We will obviously support President Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations. But it is exactly why we've been leading this work on the coalition of the willing, because any ceasefire, as I say, cannot just be an opportunity for President Putin to go away, re-arm, restrengthen, and then go again. "So we're not going to leave it to trust. We're going to ensure that we're prepared such that we achieve a ceasefire."
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Russians flee to shelter amid fears of 'imminent Ukraine nuclear strike'
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Bus passengers in Moscow were ordered to take cover in bomb shelters over warnings of a 'nuclear bombardment' from Ukraine. A video filmed in Russia's capital earlier today captured the moment an alert was broadcast over the bus intercom system. The announcement said: 'Attention, attention! Ukraine is threatening us with a nuclear bombardment. 'I repeat! Attention, attention! Ukraine is threatening us with a nuclear bombardment! 'Everyone to the shelters! Attention! Attention! Ukraine is threatening us with a nuclear bombardment!' But transport officials in Moscow say the alert was broadcast by hackers, who have not yet been identified. The video was filmed on board a 191 service to Grachevskaya station which is run by the Transavtoliz company, which operates hundreds of services. It's not yet known how many bus intercoms were hacked and played the fake warning. Authorities rushed to reassure passengers that they did not need to go to a bomb shelter, and that the threat was false. A Moscow transport spokesman said: 'Audio messages that did not correspond to reality were played in the buses. 'Currently, specialists are checking the network infrastructure and eliminating the consequences of unauthorised access.' Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not have any nuclear weapons, having given up its arsenal in the 1990s as part of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. The memorandum saw Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees from Russia, the US and the UK to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and borders. It comes as US president Donald Trump prepares to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss the ongoing war with Ukraine and try to negotiate an end to the conflict. More Trending They will not be meeting alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, despite Trump's comments suggesting otherwise. Relations between the US and Russian presidents are fraught, with a Putin stooge warning Trump has made 'another step towards war with Russia' and Trump responding by moving US nuclear submarines. Ukraine stepped up its strikes against Russia this year, causing chaos at Moscow's airports and destroying warplanes. But with the death toll of both soldiers and civilians creeping higher, Mr Zelensky is still calling for a ceasefire in order to bring about a 'just peace'. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Meet Britain's Doomsday preppers stockpiling for World War Three MORE: Trump should give Putin a gift in Alaska – then an order MORE: Putin red-faced after new Russian navy boat sinks during final building work
