UK Readies Cyberattack Plan Against ISIS

Following the devastating terrorist attacks that took place in Paris late last week, the British government is taking drastic measures to bolster its cybersecurity defenses and surveillance measures.

During a speech at GCHQ, Britain’s main cybercrime intelligence service, Chancellor George Osborne announced a new series of initiatives designed to protect the nation from cyberattacks and “hit back” against attempts to damage the country’s digital infrastructure, Wired U.K. reported yesterday (Nov. 17).

Not only will the U.K. double its surveillance and cybercrime budget to help fight against potential cyberattacks from terrorists like the Islamic State (IS), but Osborne said the nation is also prepared to launch its own cyberattacks to counter threats from terrorist organizations.

“We need to destroy the idea that there is impunity in cyberspace,” Osborne stated. “We need those who would harm us to know that we will defend ourselves robustly. And that we have the means to do so.”

As part of the country’s National Offensive Cyber Program, the government maintains the necessary funding needed to respond to cyberattacks “in any way that we choose,” Osborne said.

Citing the need for investments in areas of surveillance and cybersecurity to be greatly increased, the British government will increase its spending on fighting cybercrime by £1.9 billion a year by 2020 in order to safeguard public online assets and significant infrastructures, such as hospitals and electricity grids, Forbes reported.

Osborne also announced the establishment of a £165 million ($250 million) Defense and Cyber Innovation Fund that will support governmental efforts to buy or invest in cybersecurity startups, essentially supporting “innovative procurement across both defense and cybersecurity,” he added.

“It will mean that we support our cybersector at the same time as we need to solve investing in solutions to the hardest cyberproblems that government faces,” Osborne noted.

The speech also highlighted the creation of a new National Cyber Centre at GCHQ next year to provide a collaborative source of support and advice for various U.K. bodies.