Digital Battlespace
UK wary of cyber threat
A UK government official has warned that the NATO air operation in Libya could have been vulnerable to cyber-attack as the mission was so dependent on network-centric operations.
Speaking at an Air Power Association cyber briefing in London on 18 January, Group Captain Andrew Gudgeon, chief of staff for cyberspace, OCSIA, at the UK Cabinet Office, said cyber warfare could have been a possibility during the Libyan campaign.
‘When deployed and when in coalition how do we monitor this? It seems that any force that is network-enabled is vulnerable to attack,’ Gudgeon said.
He explained that attackers do not have to be a nation state to do harm: 'These are professional engineers that don't have an outlet in the country that they are in.'
Gudgeon used the example of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which has 1,500 on-board computers and 600 items of cryptography, resulting in it being data and network dependent.
The UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review recommended a £650 million investment in cyber for the MoD, as well as cyber being categorised as a tier one threat, which is significant, Gudgeon said, in light of the economic down turn.
The GCHQ also conducts 24/7 monitoring of some 200,000 devices, with the RAF providing slightly more assistance than the other forces he explained, although for the UK 'this [cyber defence] will be a joint activity for all three services'.
'Cyber and air power combined will allow us to fight; airmen in many respects are uniquely suited to cyber warfare.'
Gudgeon explained that evidence of this is the air manning at JCU Corsham, which he described as the UK's biggest contribution to the cyber effort to date. It is wing commander-led, and has 150 personnel, 68 of which are RAF, with a mix of communications engineers, technicians, intelligence officers and analysts, and RAF police.
In November the UK released its Cyber Security Strategy, a lead-on from the National Security Strategy, which set aside the funding for the development of a cyber-security programme.
'We're at the start of the journey in all honesty,' Gudgeon admitted. 'But are we on the path to getting there? A £650 million investment says we are.'
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