Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NOW WE WAIT FOR PUTIN’S PAYBACK
» Fears over cyber assaults » Hospitals, flights threat » Power and water danger
BRITAIN was last night braced for a wave of crippling cyber attacks in Russian retaliation for the Syrian missile strikes.
Vital transport links, water supplies, gas networks, banks, hospitals and air traffic control could be targeted following the joint assault on Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons compounds on Friday night.
Experts believe hackers in Moscow are already trying to break into key computer networks that could bring the UK’s infrastructure to a halt.
Vladimir Putin had warned Russia would respond to assaults on Syria with “missile attacks against opposition forces and military positions of the US special forces.”
But intelligence experts believe the most likely response would be through covert cyber warfare. And that will be backed up by an avalanche of fake news planted by Moscow online trolls – and a major increase in the number of Russian spies in Britain.
Just days ago Ciaran Martin, director of the National Cyber Security Centre – set up by the Government to provide advice and support for the public and private sector in avoiding computer security threats – revealed the threat of a cyber assault had been ramped up to its highest level.
He added: “The NCSC will be on high alert and trying to do everything in its power to frustrate or prevent an attack.”
Britain’s secret eavesdropping station GCHQ is also believed to be patrolling the web ready to give early warnings of incursions.
Counter-terrorism and defence expert Professor Michael Clarke, ex-director of defence and security think tank RUSI, said yesterday: “I suspect Russia will choose not to respond in military terms.
“But cyber warfare is highly likely. A Russian attack in the next two to three weeks is a high threat. And it will be an attack on national infrastructure, not just upsetting city firms, but getting inside the transport system, or the health system, or air traffic control.
“It could affect everyone. One of the biggest concerns is an air crash.”
Last month military intelligence chief General Sir Chris Deverell warned Russia has developed the capacity to cripple Britain by hijacking control systems at airports.
But security chiefs mainly fear a “category one” assault that would target vital infrastructure like energy grids and financial services.
Attacks could cause electricity cuts, while hackers could also tamper with computer controlled valves or disable pumps to stop water supplies. The Russians could cause havoc within our already stressed NHS. Last year patients were told not to attend hospitals unless it was “essential” after they were hit by a cyber attack.
Thousands of operations and appointments could be cancelled by a concerted assault.
Then the Russians could take their offensive into our homes – plundering private details from computers and emptying bank accounts.
Putin’s payback is inevitable after Britain, the US and France were galvanised into military action following chlorine gas and nerve agent attacks in Douma last week, killing at least 70 people, including young chil-
A Russian attack in the next 2 or 3 weeks is highly likely
DEFENCE EXPERT MICHAEL CLARKE
dren. RAF Tornado jets bombed a chemical weapons factory with Storm Shadow missiles. A chemical research facility in Damascus and storage facilities near Homs were also attacked. But Russian troops and bases were carefully avoided.
Russia has always stubbornly defended Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. It has vetoed calls for UN chemical weapons inspectors to be sent into the country 10 times in the last three years. That’s despite telling evidence that the Syrian government and Islamic State unleashed chemical weapons on civilians.
Washington and London have denounced the Russian veto at UN security council meetings as a cynical act of obstructionism. Now, together with France, they have struck back – and have to be ready for the consequences.
Last night the Pentagon said a “disin-
formation campaign” had been launched in the aftermath of the air assaults.
Chief spokeswoman Dana White said: “There has been a 2,000 per cent increase in Russian trolls in the past 24 hours.”
Fake profiles on sites including Twitter and Facebook are being used to share false stories about the air strikes.
And the Kremlin is also thought to be boosting the number of spies in the UK – just weeks after ex-double agent Sergei and daughter Yulia were poisoned with nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury, Wilts.
A security source said: “This is an escalation of the current Cold War. Russia is planning to increase the number of spies on the ground here.”
Ex-Afghanistan British Forces commander Colonel Richard Kemp added: “After Friday night’s strikes, and also Britain’s response to the nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury, the Russians will certainly be seeing us as more of a direct enemy. I think the likelihood is they will be increasing espionage activity.”
The rocketing tension comes as sources claim Russia is now ready to bolster its air defence systems in Syria.
It plans to bring in sophisticated surface-toair missile systems designed to pick off cruise missiles in any further attacks on al-Assad’s secret stockpile of chemical weapons.
Prof Clarke said: “Al-Assad has chemicals dispersed in lots of other places that British forces cannot pinpoint or are not prepared to bomb because of civilian casualties.” There have been in excess of 1,000 docuSkripal mented uses of chemical weapons in Syria since 2013 and more than 100 in the last year alone. It is all part of relentless bid by Assad – who posted a Twitter video of himself calmly walking into work in Damascus yesterday – to drive out rebel groups who oppose his regime.
Meanwhile, at a United Nations Security Council meeting yesterday UN Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya had a tense meeting with British Ambassador Karen Pierce as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) prepared to begin work in Syria to investigate the alleged us of chemical weapons in Douma.
Russia aims to increase spies in Britain. It’s a Cold War escalation SECURITY SOURCE ON PUTIN’S LIKELY PLANS