The UK government has been sharing cyber-intelligence with 16 NATO allies and others outside the alliance on coordinated Russian attempts to probe critical infrastructure and government networks for vulnerabilities, according to Jeremy Hunt.
The foreign secretary will say today at the NATO Cyber Defence Pledge Conference in London that the Kremlin is engaged in a global campaign designed to find IT flaws that could be exploited to cause damage.
“The challenge today is therefore to apply the eternal verities at the heart of NATO’s success to the alliance’s newest operational domain. And that means deterrence – strengthening our joint ability to deter those who would harm our citizens in cyberspace,” Hunt will reportedly say.
The conference is itself testament to the growing threat to member nations from Russian state-sponsored hackers, allowing sharing of best practices and intelligence to counter the rogue nation to the east.
Hunt will also reaffirm the right of NATO states to enact a “proportionate response” to any further attempts to meddle in democratic elections, even if they fall below the Article V threshold which states that an attack against a member nation is considered an attack on all 29 allies.
Cyber was recently added as a legitimate military domain by the alliance.
In related news, the UK government is set to invest £22m in new cyber-operations centers for the army.
Set to launch in 2020, the facility will aim to bridge the gap in capabilities between the security services and the military.
“These new cyber centers will allow the army and defense to transform the way we use data, at speed, so that we can compete with our adversaries in a way fit for the 21st century,” said major general Tom Copinger-Symes, general officer commanding force troops command.
“Combining artificial intelligence with our military analysts will help us better understand threats and exploit opportunities, in turn enabling us to get the truth out much more rapidly, quashing the noise of disinformation from our enemies.”