British Government Minister Predicts Russia Will Step Up Cyber Attacks

Uploaded on 2024-11-26 in INTELLIGENCE-Hot Spots-Russia, GOVERNMENT-National, GOVERNMENT-Defence, FREE TO VIEW

Russia is ready to carry out cyber attacks on the United Kingdom and other allies in a bid to weaken support for Ukraine, a senior government minister has warned.

Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden was speaking a a NATO conference in London on Monday 25th November. Notably, his warning included reference to Russia and other adversaries trying to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase the cyber attacks on Britain's critical infrastructure.

McFadden also announced the creation of a research programme in London, called the Laboratory for AI Security Research (LASR), to keep on top of emerging threats as he says there is a risk that Russia will try to take down the electricity grid.

It is the latest in a series of warnings about the cyber warfare capabilities of Russia, which McFadden called a "hidden war" being waged against Ukraine. There is a danger that AI “could be weaponised against us,” McFadden warns, saying that the UK is already engaged in the “daily reality” of a “cyberwar,” with hacking efforts coming in particular from Russia.

Indeed, over the past year, Russia’s criminals and hackers have “stepped up their attacks” against the UK, and other NATO allies who have been supporting the Ukraine with military aid as it tries to fight off Russian aggression. Recently, President Putin directly threatened countries including the UK, which allowed Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles on targets inside Russia. Russia “had the right” to strike military targets in response.

While few believe that Russia would risk a conventional military attack against a NATO member, but an enhanced cyber-attack remains a real possibility, possibly by targeting the electricity network.

McFadden says that “Russia has targeted our media, our telecoms, our political and democratic institutions and our energy infrastructure,” and warn that “with a cyber-attack, Russia can turn the lights off for millions of people. It can shut down the power grids”.

Image: Steppinstars

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