Why UK must use war on cyber criminals to prepare for online 'Battle of Britain'
Cyber security is also a matter of national security and the UK Government needs to expand its capabilities to deal with threats posed by hackers and hostile states
According to the bank NatWest, it faces 100 million cyber attacks every month, a staggering figure that may help explain the recent problems faced by Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Edinburgh’s schools because of hackers. With such a barrage, it almost seems inevitable that one will slip through.
Speaking to the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee, Chris Ulliott, head of cybersecurity at NatWest – which employs hundreds of staff to deal with threats – said that “about a third of the emails, millions a month, we actually block because they are believed to be the start of an attack against our staff”.
He added there was growing concern that criminals were using artificial intelligence to make their approaches to staff seem more credible.
READ MORE: Scottish university takes ‘quantum leap’ forward in fight against M&S-style cyber attacks
Internet of Things
However, fraudsters are not the only ones involved in cyber attacks. Hostile states also pose a threat. Speaking to The Scotsman, Graeme Downie MP, chair of the Coalition on Secure Technology, warned that China could hack the UK’s traffic lights and other electronic equipment if the technology used in them is not sufficiently secure.
The ‘internet of things’ (IoT) connects all manner of devices from washing machines and air fryers to critical parts of the National Grid. And many IoT ‘modules’ are manufactured in China.
“With short simple bits of code, someone could be in control of those [modules], or reprogram those to do different things,” Downie said.
Vital to UK’s defence
Amid concern about a possible war with Russia should the situation in Ukraine escalate, cyber security is obviously a matter of national security. So, just as we have a Ministry of Defence, we should also have a Ministry of Cyber Defence to augment the work of the National Cyber Security Centre.
With even large private companies struggling to defend themselves, they clearly need greater government help, and increasing expertise in seeing off such attacks would not only help the economy.
It could, one day, prove to be as vital to the defence of this country as the decision to expand and modernise the RAF – just in time – before the Second World War. Any future Battle of Britain may take place as much online as in the air.
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