{"id":140365,"date":"2025-05-29T03:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T03:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/140365\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T03:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T03:22:14","slug":"britain-to-unleash-1-billion-ai-and-hacking-blitz-on-putins-russia-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/140365\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain to unleash \u00a31 billion AI and hacking blitz on Putin\u2019s Russia | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain is launching a major cyber offensive against hostile states including Vladimir Putin<\/a>\u2019s Russia<\/a>, as the Defence Secretary unveils a \u00a31 billion blitz on AI weapons and military hacking, reports The Telegraph.<\/a><\/p>\n

John Healey declared that the UK\u2019s Armed Forces must be given the upper hand in the growing online battlefield, warning that \u201cthe keyboard has become a weapon of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement comes as part of a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command, set to lead Britain\u2019s digital fightback. The unit will spearhead offensive hacking operations and oversee a staggering \u00a31 billion investment into cutting-edge AI-powered targeting systems.<\/p>\n

The artificial intelligence, dubbed a \u201ckill web,\u201d will connect military systems in real time and form the backbone of Britain\u2019s digital arsenal.<\/p>\n

Mr Healey, speaking from MoD Corsham\u2014the nerve centre of Britain\u2019s military cyber efforts\u2014said the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) to be published on Monday will set \u201cnew standards\u201d in defence.<\/p>\n

Pressed on whether Britain was now actively enhancing its ability to attack hostile states such as Russia<\/a> and China, the Defence Secretary gave the clearest confirmation yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Cyber Command is part of removing duplication, setting new standards, giving new authority behind defensive and offensive cyber.\u201d<\/p>\n

This marks the most explicit public statement from any UK government minister about Britain\u2019s offensive cyber ambitions, as threats from foreign actors continue to mount.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are under daily attack, increasing attacks,\u201d Mr Healey added. \u201cThis is the nerve centre of the UK\u2019s military that helps us defend against these attacks. The keyboard has become a weapon of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Labour Defence Secretary said the war in Ukraine<\/a> had made clear that \u201cthose that prevail will be those who are not just better equipped and better trained, but better connected and also capable of innovating ahead of adversaries.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s what our new cyber command will allow us to do,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

For the past five years, the National Cyber Force, a joint operation between GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence, has taken the lead on offensive hacking. It will now work alongside the new command unit to deliver powerful online attacks and protect critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Details of Britain\u2019s cyber arsenal remain classified\u2014but similar operations around the world have included digital espionage and software implants capable of crippling industrial systems.<\/p>\n

Hostile nations including Russia<\/a>, China, Iran and North Korea are believed to be behind an onslaught of cyber aggression targeting Western powers. In the last two years alone, the Ministry of Defence has endured a jaw-dropping 90,000 cyber attacks\u2014double the number seen in 2023.<\/p>\n

Mr Healey didn\u2019t mince his words: \u201cThis is a level of cyber warfare that is continual and intensifying that requires us to step up our capacity to defend.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that although previous governments had discussed the importance of cyber power, they had \u201cnot promoted [it] in a way that integrated the efforts of the RAF, British Army and Royal Navy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Commons public accounts committee sounded the alarm over outdated IT systems across Whitehall. Its report warned that the Government was being outpaced by cyber criminals and lacked the skilled personnel needed to respond.<\/p>\n

Shockingly, more than a quarter of all public sector IT systems are still running on outdated \u201clegacy\u201d technology\u2014leaving gaping holes in national cyber defences.<\/p>\n

It comes amid a wave of cyber attacks on top UK retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Harrods and the Co-op, which have all fallen victim to online assaults in recent months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain is launching a major cyber offensive against hostile states including Vladimir Putin\u2019s Russia, as the Defence Secretary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[60910,1942,748,31424,13508,393,4884,1144,332,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-140365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-ai-weapons","11":"tag-artificial-intelligence","12":"tag-britain","13":"tag-cyber-attack","14":"tag-cyber-warfare","15":"tag-england","16":"tag-great-britain","17":"tag-northern-ireland","18":"tag-russia","19":"tag-scotland","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114588978183520920","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}