Britain fends off daily cyber-attacks by states and terrorists, warns Government security tsar

AO says: Britain spreading fear to justify restrictions on web access and licencing internet users.


Britain’s security services are fending off daily attacks on UK computer systems by foreign states and terrorists, it was revealed today.

Government’s security tsar Lord West said there were ‘300 significant’ cuber-attacks on the Government's core networks last year and warned of chaos if one had succeeded.

If, for example, time signals from global positioning system satellites had been disabled, ‘not a single cash machine would work, the Docklands Light Railway
wouldn't work, you wouldn't be able to berth oil tankers, and great
chunks of our transport infrastructure would stop,’ he said.

Olympic park

Olympic park: The 2012 Games are at risk from a cyber attack, Lord West said

Lord West also said the 2012 Olympics would be a target. ‘People will be trying to get into the Olympics [ticketing] site to see what they can do,’ he said.

The caution comes days after FBI director Robert Mueller’s said cyber-attacks by al Qaeda pose a growing threat to the U.S. – and could have the same impact as a ‘well-placed bomb’.

He also warned ‘nation-state hackers or mercenaries for hire’ seek ‘our technology, our intelligence, our intellectual property, even our
military weapons and strategies’.

Lord West

Lord West: The security tsar said there were 300 'significant' attacks last year

And it is not just Britain and America facing these attacks.

Last week Spanish investigators arrested three alleged ringleaders of the so-called ‘Mariposa’ virus, which had infected and controlled up to
12.7million PCs.

China has also vowed to crack down on hackers after Google declared it would stop censoring Chinese search results partly over hacking concerns.

Ironically, China is one of the states thought to be behind internet strikes. MI5 said it is increasingly dealing with espionage conducted by Chinese and
Russian agents.

Former Royal Navy commander Lord West, who is parliamentary undersecretary for security and counter-terrorism, refused to identify the countries carrying out cyber-attacks.

But he told The Observer: ‘There is no doubt some state actors have sucked out huge amounts of intellectual copyright, designs to whole aero
engines, things that have taken years and years of development.’

‘The moment you mention a particular state, they will deny it,’ Lord West added.

‘The problem with cyberspace is that attribution is extremely difficult. It's almost impossible to do it in terms of evidence that would be
necessary in a court of law.’

DLR train

At risk: The Docklands Light Railway is a vulnerable target

However, he said the UK government had sufficient intelligence to be confident that it knew who the main perpetrators were.

Russia has been widely blamed for launching debilitating cyber-attacks on Estonia and Georgia. Lord West said such actions prompted new questions.

‘If I went and bombed a power station in France, that would be an act of war,’ he said. ‘If I went on to the net and took out a power station,
is that an act of war? One could argue that it was.’

Cash machine

Target: Cash machines would not work if GPS time signals were disabled

And he warned that there might come a time when the UK would feel compelled to retaliate.

‘If some state sponsor keeps trying to get into your systems, probably for industrial espionage, are you going to go back into their system.

‘We're all capable of doing these things. At the moment we wouldn't do that, but maybe this is where we need to have discussions.’

He suggested that the UK needed to be prepared to tackle a spectrum of threats in cyberspace, including those posed by criminal gangs and
terrorists.

‘I'm very worried they [terrorists] may start becoming cuter and try to use our connectivity to have a go at our critical infrastructure, things [that control] our services, our food
[distribution] and water supply,’ he said.Terrorists were currently
‘not brilliant’ at attempting this sort of attack on infrastructure, he
added, but they would learn fast and ‘we've got to be ahead of them’.

As an example of the potential effects, he drew comparisons with ice storms in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, several years ago.

‘All the power went down; there were riots with people smashing into stores,’ he said.

The government is so concerned at the evolving threats in cyberspace that this month it launched the Office of Cyber Security, which draws on
expertise from organisations such as GCHQ, the Ministry of Defence, the
Home Office and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency.

The OCS is engaged in planning exercises looking at warfare in 2015 and 2040. Another part of its remit will be tackling online fraud.


Source: Mail Online.co.uk, March 07 2010

Views: 79

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a photo
14 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post
19 hours ago
Less Prone left a comment for Tammy
"Welcome"
yesterday
tjdavis posted a video

Mike Benz: DARPA & USAID are Weaponizing Music to Control Human Behavior

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjonesMike Benz is a former State Department official and current Executive Dire...
yesterday
Tammy is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Tuesday
Less Prone commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

The Cartel

"In his 1995 book; Bloodlines of the illuminati, Frits Sringmaier listed the following 13…"
Tuesday
tjdavis posted a photo
Tuesday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Tuesday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post What Four UFO Whistle Blowers All Suffered in Common?
"This falls in the category of political assassination, a very shameful policy of eliminating people…"
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"cheeki kea Thank you, just one thing. The Choctaw Indian who came to the rescue was a war veteran…"
Monday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"Well that is one fine story you've got going there Doc V. with a very interesting roll up. I…"
Monday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Just another bizarre chapter in WWII that seems more suspect as paranormal."
Sunday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Burbia's blog post was featured

Former President Trump?

When was this article written? It is attributed to Victor Davis Hanson. He is a Fellow at Hoover…See More
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Burbia's blog post Former President Trump?
"It must be an unintended mistake "former". But that Trump demanded to keep Khan away is a…"
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Mistake We Made in America
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Quite an uplifting story of the winter war. Finland was overpowered by ten to one and could still…"
Sunday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Elon Weighs in on Charlie Kirk's Assassination and How it is an Instrument of Social Control

For a very long time now there has been in place mass population behavioral control operations that…See More
Saturday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted