UK must prepare for Moscow cyber attacks, warn spy chiefs

BRITAIN’S intelligence agencies have warned that the UK must prepare for a cyber attack by Russia in retaliation for airstrikes against the Syrian regime. Spy chiefs are now thought to be readying their own cyber capabilities, should Russia decide to act, with the NHS, National Grid and water companies placed on high alert.

Kompromat

British politicians have been warned repeatedly that they risk being compromised by undercover Russian agents seeking to unearth embarrassing information about their personal lives that can be used against them.

The process, known in intelligence circles as “kompromat”, is integral to the Russian intelligence operation and is believed to have been used by the Kremlin as a means of blackmailing public figures around the world.

Notoriously, the spectre of Russian surveillance gained worldwide traction last year, following claims made in a file on Donald Trump, compiled by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent.

In the Trump dossier, Mr Steele is said to have provided unverified allegations that Russian security officials possess compromising material on the US president, including lurid sex videos that could be held over him. Mr Trump has denied such files exist.

Last year, Chris Bryant, a Labour MP and former minister for Europe, said that he had been a victim of such tactics, adding that he was absolutely certain that prominent government figures will have been probed by agents employed or linked to the Russian state.

The NHS

The health service is thought to be one of the key targets of cyber hackers.

NHS executives were recently ordered to get their “act together” or face having vital computer systems and digital infrastructure being crippled by a major offensive.

It comes a year after the health service suffered a catastrophic meltdown during a global ransomware attack less than a year ago, which saw 81 health trusts infected and at least 19,500 medical appointments cancelled during the fallout.

An investigation by the National Audit Office concluded that further attacks were “inevitable” unless the health service improved its resilience.

The National Grid

Security officials have urged energy infrastructure bosses to bolster their de- fences amid fears that a Russian cyber attack could take out power plants or the National Grid.

The threat of a targeted attack on Britain’s energy supply was made clear by Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, who warned in January that Russia was looking at the energy lines that link the UK to continental supplies and allow Britain to trade and share electricity and gas with neighbours.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Williamson said that the Kremlin would likely target Britain’s undersea interconnectors, responsible for supplying energy to three million homes. An attack on the grid could come from a cyber attack, undersea espionage or even a missile strike.

Internet access

UK defence chiefs have warned that undersea transcontinental cables could be severed by the Russian navy, causing mass internet outages and communication networks to fail. Britain has had no submarine-hunting patrol aircraft since 2010, leaving the cables more vulnerable to an assault.

Around 97 per cent of global communications are transmitted through the cables laid on the sea bed, but they are “uniquely vulnerable” to sabotage, according to a Policy Exchange report written by Rishi Sunak MP.