British authorities hackers have launched operations in opposition to militants, state-backed disinformation campaigns and makes an attempt to intrude in elections, the GCHQ spy company mentioned on Tuesday, in a uncommon assertion on its offensive cyber work.
The assaults have been carried out during the last three years by the secretive National Cyber Force (NCF), a hacking unit operational since 2020 made up of spies and defence officers from Britain’s armed forces and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the eavesdropping company mentioned in an announcement.
“In an increasingly volatile and interconnected world, to be a truly responsible cyber power, nations must be able to contest and compete with adversaries in cyberspace,” GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming mentioned.
The assertion was printed alongside a 28-page paper designed “to illustrate aspects of how the UK is being a responsible cyber power”. It didn’t elaborate on the specifics of these operations.
Britain’s place as a number one hacking energy competing alongside the United States with nations together with Russia, China and Iran has been lengthy identified however not often acknowledged.
In 2018, GCHQ revealed a collection of assaults it had carried out in opposition to Islamic State. Since its institution, Britain has given little details about the actions of the NCF.
Since it started working, the NCF has used its offensive cyber capabilities to guard abroad army deployments and “disrupt terrorist groups”, the assertion mentioned, with out elaborating.
British authorities hackers have additionally countered state disinformation campaigns and labored to “reduce the threat of external interference in democratic elections”, the assertion added.
The paper accompanying the assertion didn’t say which disinformation-spreading states British hackers had labored to counter. It famous, nevertheless, that “countries such as Russia and Iran routinely carry out cyber operations of different kinds in order to spread disinformation”.
“The NCF’s work is covert and we therefore do not reveal details of individual operations. Indeed the intent is sometimes that adversaries do not realise that the effects they are experiencing are the result of a cyber operation,” GCHQ mentioned.
“This ambiguity can help to amplify the cognitive effect”.
The assertion named James Babbage, a GCHQ intelligence officer of 30 years, as commander of the NCF.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
