Vladimir Putin’s cyber spies could ‘turn out the lights for millions’, a government minister will warn a Nato conference following a string of attacks on the UK by Kremlin-backed groups
A team of elite cyber spies hired by Vladimir Putin are ready to cripple the UK with a coordinated attack, a government minister has warned.
Strikes by Moscow-backed hackers have the power “turn out the lights for millions”, Pat McFadden will tell Britain’s allies at a Nato conference on Monday, as he describes cyber attacks as the “hidden war Russia is waging with Ukraine”.
The Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster – who has responsibility in cabinet for national security – will also highlight the impacts felt at home following a string of targeted breaches by Kremlin-linked groups on Britain’s energy infrastructure, political institutions, and NHS hospitals.
His expected comments come as Putin’s cronies issued a wave of threats after British Storm Shadow missiles were fired by Ukrainian troops at Russian forces. Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador in London, this week claimed that the UK is now “directly involved” in the Ukraine war after use of the weapons was approved by Number 10 – while in September, Putin warned that lifting restrictions on the use of Storm Shadows and ATACMS missiles would mean Nato countries would be at war with Russia.
At the to the Nato cyber defence conference in London on Monday, the Telegraph reports Mr McFadden will say: “In the UK, Russia has targeted our media, our telecoms, our political and democratic institutions and our energy infrastructure. Military hard power is one thing.
“But cyber war can be destabilising and debilitating. With a cyber attack, Russia can turn the lights off for millions of people. It can shut down the power grids.” He will also emphasise the threat from “unofficial hacktivists” based in Russia who are “not directly under the Kremlin’s control” but are tacitly allowed to operate as long as they do not go against Putin’s interests, citing a recent attack on South Korea after it spoke out against North Korea’s deployment of troops in Kursk.
Earlier this year, NHS hospitals in London were forced to cancel thousands of appointments including key operations, cancer treatments and blood transfusions following a major cyber attack by a Russian hacker group. Guy’s, St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital Trusts in London were among those affected when Synnovis, a pathology laboratory that runs blood tests for the NHS, was the victim of a ransomware attack thought to have been carried out by Russian cyber criminal gang Qilin.