General Sir Patrick Sanders, commander of Strategic Command, has revealed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been working on offensive and defensive cyber weapons with security experts at the UK’s pioneering intelligence base at GCHQ. General Sanders said offensive cyber weapons have the ability to “destroy critical capabilities and infrastructure” and described the invisible threat as the modern-day equivalent to the Blitz during World War Two.
Speaking outside MoD Corsham in Bath on Friday, General Sanders said: “Let’s be clear, I am not here to tell you that we can win wars from cyberspace or indeed that cyber effects can replace ships, tanks or fighter jets.
“But we can make it easier.”
He added: “National offensive cyber capabilities can degrade, disrupt and even destroy critical capabilities and infrastructure of those who would do us harm, ranging from strategic to tactical targets.”
Critical infrastructure is defined by Governments as assets which are “essential for the functioning of a society and economy”, such as the national grid.
The military chief said the UK faces around 60 serious cyber-attacks which require human intervention every day.
He added the MoD also tracks millions of “cyber events” every year, most of which are dealt with automatically by experts.
In the past few months, the UK has accused Russia of launching cyber attacks to gain information about a potential coronavirus vaccine and disrupt the last general election.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and its counterparts from the US and Canada were confident “Russian intelligence agencies” were responsible for the attacks on drug companies and research groups.
The parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee also claimed it had found evidence Russian groups sought to interfere in the 2019 general election through the promotion of leaked documents.
Russia has denied all allegations of cyber attacks.
The Strategic Command is the cyber domain for the MoD tasked with generating developing and capabilities across the land, sea, air, cyber and space.
Britain’s most senior cyber general compared the current control centre at MoD Corsham to the Bentley Priory, which served as the Headquarters Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain.
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General Sanders said: “But the intensity and the frequency of the attacks are on the same scale and if we let too many so-called bombers and their payloads through then it will sow the seeds of defeat. Not immediately, but slowly, insidiously, corrosively and inevitably.
“This means that defending ourselves in cyberspace is at least as important as the Quick Ready Alert Typhoons from the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Ready Escort and Submarines in the Royal Navy.
“And if anything, even more so, because cyberspace is the most active domain, where adversaries and allies will meet over the next decade.”
