Britain to launch cyberattacks against ISIS to stop them recruiting fanatics and plotting atrocities online
- Chancellor vows Britain will 'take the fight' to enemies on the internet
- Says military must be as strong online as on land, sea, in the air and space
- Cyber national security incidents have doubled in a year to 200 per month
Published: 10:54 GMT, 17 November 2015 | Updated: 14:21 GMT, 17 November 2015
Britain is to launch cyberattacks against ISIS to disrupt and destroy the networks used to recruit fanatics, raise funds and plot atrocities.
Chancellor George Osborne revealed spy agencies have developed an 'offensive cyber capability' to strike back at hackers, terrorist groups, criminal gangs and rogue states.
In a speech at GCHQ warning of risks to national security, Mr Osborne said the British military had to operate as effectively in cyberspace 'as it does on land and sea, in the air and space'.
Chancellor George Osborne revealed spy agencies have developed an 'offensive cyber capability' to strike back at hackers, terrorist groups, criminal gangs and rogue states
Funding for fighting cybercrime will be doubled as ministers step up efforts to protect the UK from the threat of ISIS in the wake of the Paris atrocities.
The Chancellor warned ISIS 'murderous brutality has a strong digital element' and could kill British citizens by launching cyber-attacks on hospitals and air traffic control.
He said that if ISIS were able to attack satellites or the IT systems of key infrastructure, 'the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost'.
Mr Osborne said: 'Let's be clear. ISIS are already using the internet for hideous propaganda purposes; for radicalisation, for operational planning too.
'They have not been able to use it to kill people yet by attacking our infrastructure through cyber attack.
'They do not yet have that capability. But we know they want it, and are doing their best to build it.'
Mr Osborne was shown the 24 hour Operations Room inside GCHQ, Cheltenham as he said Britain has developed an 'offensive cyber capability' to hit back directly at terrorists and rogue states
The government has warned of 'constant and relentless' cyber attacks against UK.
Last year GCHQ dealt with 100 cyber national security incidents per month but by this summer the figure had doubled to 200 a month.
Now Mr Osborne has announced a major investment in technology to launch cyberattacks against enemies, including ISIS.
'We need to destroy the idea that there is impunity in cyberspace,' he said.
'We need those who would harm us to know that we will defend ourselves robustly. And that we have the means to do so.'
The National Offensive Cyber Programme - a partnership between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ – will harness the 'skills and talents of both organisations to deliver the tools, techniques and tradecraft required for the UK to establish a world class capability'.
David Cameron today signed a book of condolences at the French Ambassador's residence in London following last week's attacks in Paris
The Prime Minister wrote that the people of the United Kingdom 'stand with the French people in shock, sadness and grief'
EXTRA £2BN AID TO FRAGILE STATE
UK aid to troubled states will be increased by £2billion to help combat terrorism and mass migration, David Cameron said last night.
The Prime Minister said the Department for International Development will spend half its £12billion annual budget on fragile states, up from the current third.
Money will be redirected from other parts of the aid programme. The move is likely to result in big funding increases for states such as Syria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen and Sudan.
The plan is designed to counter criticism that too much UK aid goes to relatively wealthy countries, including India and Nigeria, which have space programmes. But it will raise fears that even more aid money could be stolen by corrupt politicians.
Earlier this year the Independent Commission on Aid Impact found the existing aid programme for fragile states 'performs relatively poorly … for effectiveness and value for money'.
But Mr Cameron said aid was now 'an even more fundamental part of our strategy to keep this country safe'.
Mr Osborne said: 'The threats to our country in cyber space come from a range of places – from individual hackers, criminal gangs, terrorist groups and hostile powers.
'To all of them I have a clear message. We will defend ourselves. But we will also take the fight to you too.
'At the sharpest end, we need to ensure that our military are equipped to fight the wars of the 21st Century.
'That means they need to be prepared for hybrid conflicts, played out in cyberspace as well as on the battlefield.
'A 21st Century military has to operate as effectively in cyberspace as it does on land and sea, in the air and space.'
He warned that everything connected to the internet, from banks to cars, the military to schools, is also a 'target'.
'We see from this place every day the malign scope of our adversaries' goals, their warped sophistication and their frenetic activity.
'The stakes could hardly be higher – if our electricity supply, or our air traffic control, or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost.
'At a time when so many others are using the internet to enhance freedom and give expression to liberal values and creativity, they are using it for evil.'
ISIS recently released a propaganda song in Russian, promising to turn all captured women into concubines and all children into soldiers
Mr Osborne said ISIS are 'already using the internet for hideous propaganda purposes; for radicalisation, for operational planning too'.
'They have not been able to use it to kill people yet by attacking our infrastructure through cyber attack
'They do not yet have that capability. But we know they want it, and are doing their best to build it.
'So when we talk about tackling ISIL, that means tackling their cyber threat as well as the threat of their guns, bombs and knives.'
David Cameron yesterday revealed a terror attack on the UK was foiled in the last two and a half weeks.
The Prime Minister said seven deadly plots to cause havoc in the UK have been disrupted in recent months - one more than revealed by the head of MI5 on October 28.
But Mr Cameron warned that the scale and severity of the attacks in Paris which left 129 people dead were far greater than anything seen by intelligence agencies to date.
