Russia has targeted our media, our telecoms, our political and democratic institutions, and our energy infrastructure, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden told the NATO Cyber Defence Conference at Lancaster House, London in a speech yesterday.
McFadden said that he and the UK’s senior national security officials will shortly sit down with British businesses ‘to discuss how they can boost their own security and help defend the nation from actors with malign intent — particularly from Russia’. He warned that ‘Russia won’t think twice about targeting British businesses in pursuit of its goals. It is happy to exploit any gap in our physical or cyber defences’.
He said: “Russian state-aligned groups have taken responsibility for at least nine separate cyberattacks of varying severity against NATO states, including unprovoked attacks against our critical national infrastructure.
“The activity of these groups isn’t something new, or something that has just been happening in recent months. They are unpredictable; they act with disregard for the potential geopolitical consequences, and with just one miscalculation, could wreak havoc.
“Be in no doubt: the United Kingdom and others in this room are watching Russia. We know exactly what they are doing, and we are countering their attacks both publicly and behind the scenes.”
He also named China, North Korea and Iran as countries posing the ‘biggest threats in cyberspace’. The UK Government meanwhile announced a Laboratory for AI Security Research at the University of Oxford; backed by £8.2m from the Government’s Integrated Security Fund. McFadden described the UK’s digital defences as ‘a whole-of-society effort’. McFadden in his speech discussed artificial intelligence (AI), that the UK and adversaries are looking at; in terms of how to use AI on the ‘physical and cyber battlefield’.
Comments
Spencer Young, SVP EMEA at identity security product company Delinea said: “The latest warning from McFadden highlights how malicious actors exploit the same AI advancements that are, in a dual sense, also being used for operational advantages. While AI has significantly enhanced cybersecurity capabilities by improving the detection, blocking, and remediation of threats, it has also introduced new challenges. AI is increasingly used to automate and refine attacks, making them more sophisticated and harder to detect. Its duality essentially makes it both a defensive tool and a potential attack vector.
“Given the heightened concern around power grids, it is clear that both private enterprises and public facilities must stay resilient and have effective counter-attack strategies in place. One such way, is for businesses to operate under the Zero Trust principle, assume they’ve been breached already, and focus on detection strategies. Restricting access through identity management and authorisation will help organisations face cybersecurity challenges in 2025, with just-in-time access and multi-factor authentication being some of the most powerful tools.
“Moreover, addressing these larger threats cannot be done in isolation. International cooperation is essential in dealing with evolving cyber risks. Governments and regulatory bodies should seize the opportunity to agree on the responsible use of AI in cybersecurity and the collective monitoring of threats. AI is here to stay, so leaders who enable innovation while prioritising safety and security are better poised to stand the test of time.”
And CEO of cyber firm Arctic Wolf, Nick Schneider, said: “We can expect European business to be increasingly caught up in the turbulence of international politics and being sideswiped by cyber-attacks targeting national critical infrastructure. Increasingly we are likely to see businesses and institutions that support those institutions being impacted by attacks, in much the same way that the 2017 WannaCry attack impacted the UK NHS despite not being the main target.
“The end of 2024 has shown an increase in cyber attackers initially exploiting previously unknown vulnerabilities to compromise enterprise networks, and this is a trend we expect to see continuing in 2025. As bad actors target zero-day exploits – weaknesses that were recently discovered and where a fix or patch was not immediately available from the vendor – it allows attackers to conduct cyber operations against higher-priority targets.”
For McFadden’s speech in full visit gov.uk.
