Recently, Britain elite electronic spying agency alerted that the country faces the threat of credible cyber attack from any hostile group of criminals and states. According to the country’s head of spying agency, this kind of a cyber attack could badly damage the infrastructure of the country. In a very unusual public statement and speech Iain Lobban said that Britain’s infrastructure that includes emergency services and power grids are under increased risk of being attacked by hostile cyber groups as the internet based systems are becoming more and more vulnerable.
We saw a very recent episode of the elusive Stuxnet Worm that posed a threat to Iranian Nuclear Power Plant. The head of the spying agency told a gathering at International Institute for Strategic Studies that this time the threat is indeed a credible and a real one. Lobban said that we have already provided an expert advice to all the operators of these kinds of services whose system relies on running through internet systems.
According to Lobban, we as a whole must strengthen our capabilities and abilities and make our responses very swifter. The cyber groups are lighting quick in their attacks and all the sectors that are vulnerable.
Lobban, the director of Government communication Headquarter GCHQ told the audience at the gathering that almost a 1,000 malicious emails are already directed at various governmental computer networks. The statement by the director regarding Britain’s critical national Infrastructure implies to the facilities and services that are crucial for the daily lives. It means financial services, mass communication and transport and health sector.
Lobban also commented that Britain’s economy backbone can also be at risk if considerable arrangements against the imminent cyber attacks are not streamlined. GCHQ is one of the country’s security agencies alongside domestic intelligence agency MI5, and the foreign intelligence agency called as MI6.