Publication

The paper seeks to explain the offensive opportunities, effectiveness, simplicity (and deniability) offered by virtual attacks, by means of topical examples. Probing via networks is increasingly used by state and non-state actors to achieve political ends – often in cases where traditional warfare has been used in the past. The UK, while not ill-prepared to meet this problem, is putting itself at risk by using foreign companies linked closely to other government agencies. The UK needs to confirm it has appropriate capacity to deal with detection/protection/tracing of attacks. This in turn requires investment both of funding and of suitable, trained and experienced personnel.