British Army Reshapes Itself To Fight Cyberwars

Computer hackers and propaganda specialists working in the British Army are to be placed in a single division, as part of a reorganisation designed to reflect a belief that the boundary between peace and war has become increasingly blurred.

The cyber and intelligence experts will be consolidated into a reborn 6th Division, one of three in the army with a strength of 14,500, which will also contain ground troops who can be used in secret, special forces-type operations.

Lt Gen Ivan Jones, the commander of the British field army, said the plan reflected the fact that “the character of warfare continues to change” and “the boundaries between conventional and unconventional warfare” had become blurred. 

One of the early tasks for the rebranded unit is to better tackle disinformation and Russian and other places using fake news. For example, at the end of a recent exercise in Croatia, stories circulated that British soldiers had tried to abduct a native child only to be fought off by locals.

“What happened was that a handful of incidents that happened after the exercise, regrettable stories of soldiers accused of vandalism or urinating in public, were exaggerated online locally and began to appear in local media. We need people on the ground from the new 6th Division who can quickly counter that,” a military source told the Guardian newspaper.

Deliberate disinformation has been used in Mosul and northern Iraq “to great effect” to undermine Islamic State, army sources indicated, although they declined to provide further details for security reasons. 

British combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan finished 10 and five years ago, and while the military are now engaged in some covert missions such as Yemen, conventional war fighting is currently rare.Troops are more likely to be engaged in peacekeeping and security operations, such as leading a Nato battlegroup on the Russian border in Estonia, or engaged in exercises in parts of the world where a visible UK presence is deemed politically desirable.

But there is an increasing view that conflict has moved to the electronic and information arenas, particularly with Russia, but also with countries such as China and Iran, in which a key question is whether the UK can play a role to ensure that countries in eastern Europe remained allied with the west.

Earlier this year, Gen Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, the chief of general staff, argued that peace and war were “two increasingly redundant states” because authoritarian regimes were “exploiting the hybrid space that exists in between”.

The reorganisation has been undertaken within the existing defence budget, although the army remains several thousand short of its target full-time strength of 82,000, with overall troop numbers at their lowest levels since before the two world wars.

In the race to be prime minister, the eventual winner Boris Johnson promised to maintain defence spending at the existing level of just over 2% of GDP, unlike defeated rival Jeremy Hunt, who said he would lift it by £15bn to 2.5%.

Generals hope that it will be possible to further retrain soldiers keen to work or improve their skills as hackers or information specialists to enhance the capabilities of the 6th Division, based in Upavon in Wiltshire. 

The change will also see the army’s 1st Division reorganised to focus more clearly on logistics, engineers and medics. The York-based 3rd Division, the army’s principal “war fighting” division, remains essentially unchanged.

Ministry of Defence:                Guardian

You Might Also Read: 

The Cyber Effect On Modern Warfare:

US Cyber Strike On Iran Is A Step Change:

Cyber Soldiers: UK Announces Creation Of The 77th Battalion:

 

« More About The Capital One Breach
Fraudsters Target Social Media Influencers »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Syxsense

Syxsense

Syxsense brings together endpoint management and security for greater efficiency and collaboration between IT management and security teams.

CSI Consulting Services

CSI Consulting Services

Get Advice From The Experts: * Training * Penetration Testing * Data Governance * GDPR Compliance. Connecting you to the best in the business.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

MIRACL

MIRACL

MIRACL provides the world’s only single step Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which can replace passwords on 100% of mobiles, desktops or even Smart TVs.

The PC Support Group

The PC Support Group

A partnership with The PC Support Group delivers improved productivity, reduced costs and protects your business through exceptional IT, telecoms and cybersecurity services.

CybergymIEC

CybergymIEC

CybergymIEC is a global leader in cyber defense solutions and training services.

Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)

Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)

QCRI perform cutting-edge research in such areas as Arabic language technologies, social computing, data analytics, distributed systems, cyber security and computational science and engineering.

London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA)

London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA)

LORCA's mission is to support the most promising cyber security innovators in growing solutions to meet the most pressing industry challenges and build the UK’s international cyber security profile.

Information Systems Security Partners (ISSP)

Information Systems Security Partners (ISSP)

ISSP is a specialized system integrator focused on the information security needs of its corporate clients and providing best in class products and services for securing organizational information.

Metrarc

Metrarc

Metrarc has developed a ground-breaking technology called ICMetrics™ for deriving secure encryption keys from the properties of digital systems without the need to store any of the encryption keys.

International Cybersecurity Institute (ICSI)

International Cybersecurity Institute (ICSI)

ICSI is a UK company offering specialized and accredited professional qualifications in cybersecurity for young IT graduates as well as mature professionals.

CONCORDIA

CONCORDIA

Concordia is a Cybersecurity Competence Network with leading research, technology, and competences to build the European Secure, Resilient and Trusted Ecosystem.

Cyber Command - Estonian Defence Forces

Cyber Command - Estonian Defence Forces

The main mission of the Cyber Command is to carry out operations in cyberspace in order to provide command support for Ministry of Defence’s area of responsibility.

AmWINS Group

AmWINS Group

AmWINS are a global specialty insurance distributor with expertise in property, casualty and professional lines including cyber liability.

M2MD Technologies

M2MD Technologies

M2MD Technologies offers solutions optimized for cellular IoT that provide stronger security, reduced costs, enhanced user experience, and ultimately generates higher returns for stakeholders.

Team Secure

Team Secure

Team Secure provide Enterprise-grade Cyber Security consultancy, managed security services and cyber security staffing services.

Bright Security

Bright Security

Bright Security is a developer-centric Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) solution that helps organizations ship secure applications and APIs quickly and cost-effectively.

NACVIEW

NACVIEW

NACVIEW is a Network Access Control solution. It allows to control endpoints and identities that try to access the network - wired and wireless, including VPN connections.

NXM Labs

NXM Labs

NXM is a leader in a leader in advanced cybersecurity software for connected devices.

OryxLabs

OryxLabs

OryxLabs provide advanced enterprise digital risk protection solutions. Learn more about how 24x7 continuous assessment, monitoring, and improvement can secure your network.

The PC Support Group

The PC Support Group

A partnership with The PC Support Group delivers improved productivity, reduced costs and protects your business through exceptional IT, telecoms and cybersecurity services.