GCHQ director warns of Russian threat to telecom infrastructure

• Russia and China continue to pose major threat
• In a speech at Bletchley House, director of the UK’s GCHQ to warn of threats to critical infrastructure
• The UK is entering a “new era of uncertainty”

The UK’s critical telecommunications infrastructure is facing persistent attacks from Russia as Britain enters a “moment of consequence”, according to the new head of the UK’s largest intelligence and security agency.

In her first speech as the newly appointed director of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Anne Keast-Butler will outline the threats facing the UK and the measures she feels the country needs to take to combat them.

Russian threats to critical infrastructure are a key concern, according to excerpts of her speech shared with the media ahead of the address, which will be delivered at Bletchley House – the home of Britain’s spying efforts during World War II – on Wednesday. She will also warn about the growing threat from China.

The UK is caught in a “new era of radical uncertainty” and “the risk of miscalculation” is as high as she has ever seen as attacks from the two states continue. Moscow is “relentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust” in the UK, she will add, meaning GCHQ will need to continue to fend off cyberattacks and sabotage attempts.

The warning comes just a month after UK security services revealed they had found Russian submarines conducting a covert operation over subsea cables and pipelines in the waters north of the UK.

Britain has to deal with four major cyber security incidents a week, with China, Russia and Iran behind most of the serious incidents, according to figures issued last month by Richard Horne, CEO of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, an arm of GCHQ.

With regards to China, Keast-Butler will warn that the Asian giant is “now a science and tech superpower – with sophisticated capabilities across their intelligence, cyber and military agencies,” and China’s development of artificial intelligence capabilities means there is a “narrowing window for the UK and allies to stay ahead”.

- James Pearce, Editor, TelecomTV