£1.5bn cyber force that will hack into terrorists’ mobiles

 A new British ‘cyber force’ will take down enemy computer systems and hack into enemy air defences to protect our warplanes.

Made up of both military personnel and spies from MI6 and GCHQ, the National Cyber Force will eventually be 3,000-strong.

It will also have teams hacking into terrorists’ mobile phones to stop their plots and into paedophiles’ online chat rooms to destroy their ‘vile material’.

Experts say the force will ‘help to prevent the internet from being used as a global platform for serious crimes, including sexual abuse of children and fraud’.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said its budget of £1.5billion over the next four years ‘will give us the capability to launch offensive cyber operations against our adversaries’ in ways not seen before.

Instead of using electromagnetic jamming to protect UK warplanes, Britain would hack into enemy air defences to stop them deploying missiles.

Mr Wallace said the force would also combat organised criminals linked to the Russian state. ‘We need sometimes our ability to deal with that problem,’ he added.

GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming said the force ‘brings together intelligence and defence capabilities to transform the UK’s ability to contest adversaries in cyber space, to protect the country, its people and our way of life’.

And Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab predicted it would become a ‘world-leading force for good, capable of conducting targeted, responsible cyber operations to protect our national security’.

However Mr Johnson hinted the move could come with a future cut in Armed Forces manpower, adding that the best military units would not be the largest but the 'most swiftest and most agile'. 

Mr Wallace meanwhile said the focus on recruitment would shift towards the new National Cyber Force in the future.

He added: 'Do I think the Armed Forces will be as big in five years's time as it is now? No, I don't. But what will drive that scale is going to be our equipment requirements and our threat.'  

'We shall forward deploy more of our naval assets in the world's most important regions, protecting the shipping lanes that supply our nation,' he told MPs.

Outlining a futuristic vision for the Armed Forces, the PM also said the warships will carry lasers which will make ammunition redundant.

He said: 'Our warships and combat vehicles will carry 'directed energy weapons', destroying targets with inexhaustible lasers and for them the phrase 'out of ammunition' will become redundant.'

Billions of pounds will be poured into a space centre amid soaring threats from Russia and China and also a new cyber centre made up of troops and spies. 

The new RAF Space Command will launch British satellites and the country's first rocket from Scotland in 2022.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8967919/PMs-16bn-defence-splurge-make-UK-greatest-naval-power-Europe-more.html?ito=push-notification&ci=52800&si=12789690

Britannia rules the waves again: Boris Johnson's £16bn defence splurge will make UK 'greatest naval power in Europe' once more

 Britain will become Europe's greatest naval power again after a £16.5billion boost to defence spending, Boris Johnson vowed yesterday.

The Prime Minister said he would 'restore Britain's position' as the ruler of the waves rather than allow the UK to 'curl up in our island and leave the task to our friends'.

Billions of pounds of the extra defence cash would go towards the next generation of warships, including advanced new Type 32 frigates which will be armed with lasers. 

France has 23 warships, comprising 11 destroyers, 11 frigates and its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle – currently more than the UK.

Billions of pounds of the extra defence cash would go towards the next generation of warships, including advanced new Type 32 frigates which will be armed with lasers

But Royal Navy sources were keen to point out that many of its ships are 'old' and small, adding that with the addition of approximately five new Type 32 frigates, the UK will have 26 warships by the 2030s.

A Navy source said: 'If you look at the list of the French ships, some of those are getting on for 20 years old. This is going to be the most modern fleet in Europe.'

In a speech to the Commons yesterday, Mr Johnson said: 'We shall use our extra defence spending to restore Britain's position as the foremost naval power in Europe, taking forward our plans for eight Type 26 and five Type 31 frigates, and support ships to supply our carriers.

'We are going to develop the next generation of warships, including multi-role research vessels and Type 32 frigates.

'And this will spur a renaissance of British shipbuilding across the UK – in Glasgow and Rosyth, Belfast, Appledore and Birkenhead – guaranteeing jobs and illuminating the benefits of the Union in the white light of the arc welder's torch.'

He added: 'If there was one policy which strengthens the UK in every possible sense, it is building more ships for the Royal Navy.'

Defence spending is to increase by £16.5billion above the Tories' manifesto commitment over four years. 

The Government had already pledged to raise spending by 0.5 per cent above inflation for every year of this parliament. The total amounts to £24.1billion more.

Mr Johnson said both Britain's new aircraft carriers, which cost £6.2billion in total, will be operational in 2023, with HMS Queen Elizabeth heading to the Indian Ocean and East Asia next year.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8967919/PMs-16bn-defence-splurge-make-UK-greatest-naval-power-Europe-more.html?ito=push-notification&ci=52800&si=12789690

COVID-19 is changing the map of cyber-crime activity, says British spy agency

 

THE CYBER-SECURITY BRANCH of Britain’s signals intelligence agency has said in a new report that the coronavirus pandemic is changing the map of cyber-crime by illicit actors, including state-sponsored hackers. The unclassified report was released on Tuesday by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is the cyber-security branch of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Founded over a century ago, the GCHQ is responsible for, among other things, securing the communications systems of the British government and the country’s armed forces.

In its latest Annual Review, the NCSC warns that “criminals and hostile states” are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic in order to challenge the national security of Britain and its allies. In an introductory note included in the report, NCSC director Jeremy Fleming says that the balance of cyber-threats has changed in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. According to the report, British cyber-security agencies saw a 10% rise in serious cyber-threat incidents in 2020. More than a third of these incidents were related to COVID-19, and many targeted Britain’s healthcare sector.

The report suggests that attacks against the British National Healthcare Service and vaccine research facilities constitute a rapidly emerging cyber-espionage risk. The majority of these attacks were carried out by state-sponsored actors, including Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) 29, which is also known as “Cozy Bear” and “The Dukes”. According to Western intelligence services, APT29 is a Russian state-sponsored cyber-espionage outfit, which has been known to target facilities involved in the development of coronavirus-related vaccines.

Other cyber-threat actors have no connections to foreign governments, but are instead motivated by profit. The NCSC said it had managed to disrupt over 15,000 campaigns by cyber-criminals to use coronavirus as a bait in order to trick unsuspecting Internet users into downloading malicious software or providing personal information online. Some cyber-criminal networks contacted clinics and other businesses who were in desperate need of personal protective equipment, coronavirus testing kits, and even purported cures against the virus, said the NCSC. Some of these unsuspecting victims were offered fictitious quantities of coronavirus-related equipment, which were never delivered.

 Author: Ian Allen

https://intelnews.org/2020/11/05/01-2897/

Vienna synagogue shootings: 'Several dead' and police officer shot in 'terror attack'

 

Several people are dead and a police officer is among the injured after a suspected terror attack carried out by multiple suspects near a synagogue in Vienna.

Austria's interior minister has said on state broadcaster ORF TV that it's suspected to be a terror attack and that the shooting is believed to have been carried out by several people.

The interior ministry also said one suspect has been arrested, APA has said.

The same TV station is also reporting that several people were killed.

Austrian news agency APA also quoted the country's interior ministry as saying that one attacker has been killed and another could be on the run.

A police officer was shot and seriously injured, the APA news agency also said, citing Austria's interior ministry.

Police have confirmed the gunfire and said several people are injured.

This is an on-going situation with multiple incidents continuing,  also multiple incidents in France none of these are yet confirmed.

https://news.sky.com/story/one-dead-in-exchanges-of-fire-in-central-vienna-12122166