By Sama Marwan,
British Defence Secretary John Healey has announced that the army will spend over £1 billion on artificial intelligence and an anti-hacking team, pledging to enhance the armed forces’ cyber capabilities to target hostile nations such as Vladimir Putin’s Russia, warning that “the keyboard has become a weapon of war.”
According to The Telegraph, offensive operations will be carried out through a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command, which will oversee a £1 billion investment in enhanced targeting systems using an AI “kill net” that interconnects military systems.
Healey stated that this command unit, which will be included in the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR), will set new standards in the field of defence. When asked whether the Ministry of Defence is enhancing its ability to attack hostile states like Russia and China, Healey replied:
“Yes. Cyber Command is part of removing duplication, setting new standards, and granting new powers for both defensive and offensive cyber security.”
The minister’s recent remarks are the strongest official confirmation yet of the UK’s intention to carry out offensive cyber operations, in addition to defending its interests against foreign cyberattacks. Speaking yesterday, Healey said:
“We face daily and growing attacks, and this is the British Army’s nerve centre that helps us defend against them… the keyboard has become a weapon of war.”
Healey added that the Cyber Defence Command recognizes that the war in Ukraine has shown that:
“The winners are not only the best equipped and trained, but also the best connected and most capable of innovating ahead of their adversaries.”
He emphasized:
“That is what our new Cyber Command will enable us to do.”
While the specific capabilities of the UK’s offensive cyber power remain classified, other nations’ actions have ranged from spying on officials to installing malware that disables industrial machinery. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are all known to operate state-sponsored hackers engaged in cyber-espionage, data breaches, and ransomware attacks.
