AP —
Britain and its allies risk losing cyberspace conflicts with adversaries such as Russia unless people, businesses and governments address cybersecurity more urgently, Britain’s intelligence chief has warned.
Ann Keast Butler, head of communications intelligence agency GCHQ, will warn on Wednesday that the Russian government is “relentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust” in the UK and Europe. In a speech at a World War II code-breaking center near London, she will accuse Russia of stealing technology and plotting sabotage and assassinations.
Keast-Butler will say that rapid advances in artificial intelligence mean “the ground beneath our feet is shifting” and that “there is less room for the UK and its allies to get ahead” compared to scientific and technological “superpowers” such as China.
She will argue that making cybersecurity “10 times more urgent” requires a “boardroom-to-living room” effort, according to excerpts published in advance by GCHQ, short for Government Communications Headquarters.
This is the latest in a series of warnings by Western spies and intelligence experts that Russia is stepping up hostile activities in a “gray zone” on the brink of war.
In recent months, authorities in countries including Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Norway have said Russian-linked hackers have targeted critical infrastructure such as power plants and dams.
Richard Horne, director of the UK’s National Cyber Security Center, warned last month that hostile states such as Russia, China and Iran are behind some of the most serious cyberattacks facing the country. He said such attacks could increase dramatically if Britain became involved in an international conflict.
Keast Butler will stress the importance of international collaboration as US President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and disregard for longtime allies strain relations between London and Washington.
Having hit the nail on the head, she is delivering the annual GCHQ Commissioner’s Lecture speech at Bletchley Park, a manor house 45 miles (72 kilometers) north-west of London. At Bletchley Park, hundreds of mathematicians, cryptographers, crossword puzzlers, chess masters, and other experts worked to crack Nazi Germany’s supposedly unbreakable secret codes.
Their work shortened wars and hastened the birth of modern computing.
