Ransomware, cryptocurrencies, Russia and China. Here are the warnings of the British intelligence chief
What Jeremy Fleming, director of the British GCHQ, said. The in-depth study by Giuseppe Gagliano
It is difficult to deny that the report made by the director of the GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, at Imperial College on April 23 is of great interest and is perfectly consistent with the current British foreign policy aimed at exercising a prominent role on a global level .
Let's try, albeit briefly, to underline some aspects of the Feming director's academic lecture.
Over the past four years, the National Cyber Security Center has been established to keep the UK safe online and become a world leader in cybersecurity. Furthermore, the creation of the National Cyber Force allows England to defend itself against hostile states and the numerous criminals in cyberspace. But in order for all this to be possible, some essential conditions are necessary, including the need to invest in science, technology and, in particular, in information technology.
In this regard, the director points out that there has been an impressive increase in data: data volumes double every two years, driven by innovation and new users. 63% of the world's population is now online, with Asia accounting for over half of all internet users. The estimated figures for data created and consumed globally this year are 74 zettabytes. In 2010, that number was just two zettabytes.
Well, from a purely technological point of view, Great Britain is the fifth largest economy globally and therefore is doing well beyond its geographical dimension compared to that of other nations. But of course the technological innovation and global competition that this brings about must be constantly updated and reinvented as the country's prosperity and security – as well as the quality of life of its citizens and the influence that the government can project globally – they depend to a large extent on the advantages of digital technologies and on the ability to protect them from malicious attacks.
Indeed, the National Cyber Force is transforming the UK's cyber capabilities to destroy opponents across cyberspace. Among the dangers pointed out by the director are those of sending "phishing" emails that offer "cures" for the virus and, of course, infect computers with malware in an attempt to acquire money or identity; or at a national level – underlines the director – state hackers have been identified who have tried to steal research on the coronavirus and exploit supply chains to their advantage. Furthermore, ransomware has become a serious threat in terms of both scope and severity. Indeed, it increasingly affects crucial public service providers, as well as businesses, but has also led to severe disruptions to education, health care and local authorities. It also caused huge losses for unprepared companies and quickly became a significant threat to UK supply chains.
At the level of state dangers, Russia and China certainly represent the greatest concern for England and its allies.
Russia's pattern of malicious behavior around the world – whether in cyberspace, election interference or aggressive operations by their intelligence services – demonstrates that it remains the most acute threat to the UK's national and collective security. However, the most serious threat certainly is represented by China determined by the size and technological weight that this country possesses and above all by the potential capacity it has to control the global operating system. In fact, China has a competitive vision for the future of cyberspace and is playing an increasingly important role in the debate on international rules and standards.
But certainly there are other dangers closely related to the projection of the Dragon's cyber power such as smart cities: these offer great promise to make urban areas more efficient and less polluting through the use of data. They should help us navigate life, not track our movements. But if not controlled, or implemented incorrectly, there is a risk that bad guys could import technology that will wire data collection in ways that go against the interests and values of open and democratic societies.
Another danger is represented by digital currencies: their introduction by some governments – read China – promises to revolutionize the financial sector, making it more resilient, innovative and competitive. But designed without liberal values, they could be used to enable meaningful intrusions into the lives of citizens and companies in those countries and those with whom they do business globally.
Ultimately, countering all these dangers requires a collective effort by like-minded allies to use technology to deliver strategic advantage.
So England has to keep an open minded and internationally focused.
In the largely ideological narrative made by the British intelligence director, the United Kingdom is repeatedly presented as a global power, as a nation that has a central role at the global level but above all it is indicated as a force for good in implicit opposition to Russia and to China. It is difficult not to remember how oppositions of this nature were at the basis of the ideological propaganda of the Cold War.
One of the aspects that the speaker emphasizes most, and which certainly falls into both the English and American tradition, is the close collaboration between universities, private research centers and government institutions with all due respect by Noam Chomsky who since the 1970s harshly criticized this synergy. especially in relation to the role that university analysts played during the Cold War and the Vietnam War.
In partnership with UK Research and Innovation, British intelligence has created four research institutes to develop cybersecurity capabilities in strategically important areas. Imperial College is home to two such research institutes, which examine the effectiveness of interconnected cyber-physical software and systems, but there are 18 others that conduct fundamental computer science research.
In addition, England worked closely with its counterparts across the government to establish the Cyber Security Council.
Beyond the contrast – completely legitimate from the point of view of political realism – between England on the one hand and China and Russia on the other, the lesson that our country must learn from this opening is to treasure these indications and to implement them within their national borders as soon as possible.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/ransomware-criptovalute-russia-e-cina-il-monito-del-capo-intelligence-inglese/ on Thu, 29 Apr 2021 19:11:06 +0000.