Latest news with #NationalCyberForce
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
UK to invest £1bln in hacking capabilities to counter Russian threats
The British military is looking to throw a massive £1billion into AI and what's been dubbed an army of hackers. The Defence Secretary says the Government has plans to set up a cyber command to counter a 'continual and intensifying' level of cyber warfare as part of the strategic defence review. Defence Secretary John Healey said Government will also invest more than £1billion into a new 'digital targeting web' to be set up by 2027. This is set to better connect weapons systems and allow battlefield decisions targeting enemy threats to be made and executed faster. Mr Healey added that the Government is responding after some 90,000 cyber attacks from state-linked sources were directed at the UK's defence over the last two years. '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 told reporters during a visit to MOD Corsham. 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. The command will also work on electromagnetic warfare - for example, through degrading command and control, jamming signals to drones or missiles and intercepting an adversary's communications. Over the last five years, the National Cyber Force has carried out hacking operations on behalf of the military. It will now coordinate offensive cyber capabilities with the new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command, which will fight enemies on the web and lead defensive operations. Details of Britain's offensive cyber capabilities are a secret, but action by other countries has ranged from spying on officials to installing software that forces industrial machinery to break. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are all believed to have hackers who work in espionage with the aim of breaking into sensitive information online, or engaging in cyber attacks.
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Military to fast-track recruitment of ‘cyber warriors' as online threat grows
The armed forces are to fast-track recruitment of 'cyber warriors' after Britain faced more than 90,000 online attacks in the last two years. Specialist recruits will see their basic training cut from 10 weeks to a month and be offered starting salaries of £40,000, one of the highest in the armed forces, as the UK looks to boost its cyber defences. They will then undergo three months of specialist training at the Defence Cyber Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, and be placed in operational roles by the end of the year. Launching the scheme on Thursday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard said the UK faced 'a new era of threat' where cyberspace was 'a new front line'. He added: 'With more than 90,000 cyberattacks on UK military networks over the last two years, it is essential that we step up our cyber defence, fast-tracking the brightest and the best cyber specialists to help protect the UK and our allies.' The initial pilot scheme is expected to recruit around 32 specialists in 2025, with numbers being increased in future years. Thursday's announcement follows increasing warnings about the threat to the UK posed by criminals and foreign states in cyberspace. In December, the head of the National Cyber Security Centre, Richard Horne, said the threat was 'getting broader and in some parts deeper', while MI5 director general Sir Ken McCallum has warned that cyberspace is becoming 'ever more important' to Russia as it seeks to test western defences. Fast-tracking cyber warriors into our military will help ensure our armed forces are better equipped to face our adversaries in the 21st century and defend the country from the changing threats we face Defence Secretary John Healey The new specialists will be tasked with either securing military networks and services at the armed forces' digital headquarters in Corsham, Wiltshire, or as part of the National Cyber Force. A joint venture between GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence, the National Cyber Force aims to disrupt online threats to the UK. Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'Fast-tracking cyber warriors into our military will help ensure our armed forces are better equipped to face our adversaries in the 21st century and defend the country from the changing threats we face. 'After years of hollowing out, our Government is making Britain secure at home and strong abroad, delivering on our Plan for Change and the hardworking British people.' The cyber roles will initially be part of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, with the Army joining subsequent recruitment campaigns for 2026 and beyond.
