£250m joint cyber crime unit to tackle Russian threat

BRITAIN will step up its cyber crime offensive against the threat from Russia and terrorist groups with a new £250m joint taskforce between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ, it was reported last night.

The unit, which will be made up of about 2,000 recruits from the military and security services industry, is to quadruple the number of people in offensive cyber-crime roles. They will also be expected to take on and monitor domestic crime groups as well as hostile states, The Times reported.

It comes after Britain promised to retaliate against Russian aggression after it blamed the country for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March.

According to reports, Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, will announce the new force soon after he ordered a review. The unit is likely to be set up at a military base as the headquarters of GCHQ in Cheltenhamis already at full capacity.