LONDON — Britain and its allies risk losing a cyber conflict against adversaries like Russia if citizens, corporations and governments do not treat cybersecurity with far greater urgency, a U.K. spy chief warns.
Anne Keast-Butler, director of GCHQ, will warn on Wednesday that Moscow is relentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust in Britain and Europe. In a speech at a World War II code‑breaking centre near London, she will accuse Russia of stealing technology and planning sabotage and assassination attempts.
She will argue that rapid advances in artificial intelligence are reshaping the landscape, creating a narrow window for the U.K. and its allies to maintain an edge over nations such as China, which is emerging as a science and technology superpower.
She will stress the need for action “from boardrooms to living rooms” to make cybersecurity ten times more urgent, according to extracts released in advance by GCHQ, or Government Communications Headquarters.
This is the latest in a series of warnings from Western intelligence officials that Russia is escalating hostile activity in a “gray zone” just below the threshold of war.
In recent months, authorities in countries such as Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Norway have alleged that hackers linked to Russia targeted their critical infrastructure, including power plants and dams.
Richard Horne, head of the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre, warned last month that hostile states, including Russia, China and Iran, are behind the most serious cyber attacks the country faces. He cautioned that these attacks could intensify dramatically if Britain becomes involved in an international conflict.
She will emphasize the importance of international partnerships as U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy and disregard for long‑standing allies strain relations between London and Washington.
Pointedly, she is delivering the annual GCHQ director’s lecture at Bletchley Park, a manor house 45 miles (72 km) northwest of London where hundreds of mathematicians, cryptographers, crossword enthusiasts, chess masters and other experts worked to crack Nazi Germany’s supposedly unbreakable secret codes.
Their work both shortened the war and accelerated the development of modern computing.
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