Britain’s Defense Secretary John Healy has said the country will step up offensive cyberattacks against nations such as Russia and China, marking the first time a minister has openly declared the launch of cyberattacks on another country.

This is reported by  The Times, Censor.NET reports .

Geely said that “the keyboard is now a weapon of war.” The minister said that the UK’s new cyber command would coordinate such offensive digital operations. In particular, this could include hacking computer systems to disrupt the enemy’s ability to carry out conventional attacks and spread propaganda online.

The British Ministry of Defence has said it has been the target of 90,000 cyberattacks in the past two years. The ministry says the attacks were carried out by groups linked to foreign governments or working for them. The number of attacks is double the rate in the previous two years, indicating a significant increase in the threat to cybersecurity.

“This is a level of cyber warfare that is ongoing and escalating. It requires us to strengthen our ability to defend against it. The keyboard is now a weapon of war, and we are responding to it. Future conflicts will be won by the forces that are better connected,” Ghee said.

He did not admit that the UK was waging cyberwar with Russia, but said that “the intensity of cyberattacks that we are seeing from Russia is increasing” and “this is a level of cyberwarfare that is ongoing and escalating.”

According to the British minister, the forms of warfare are changing rapidly, and Britain is experiencing cyberattacks on this new front every day.

“The hard-won lessons of Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine leave us under no illusions: future conflicts will be won by forces that are better connected, better equipped, and more innovative than their adversaries,” the official added.

It was previously reported that the UK discovered that hackers linked to Russia were trying to hack the accounts of Ministry of Defense employees, masquerading as journalists. Джерело: https://censor.net/ua/n3555061

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