Russia is prepared to launch a wave of cyber attacks on Britain – and can “turn the lights off for millions of people”, a minister will warn.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden will tell a NATO conference next week allies must “not underestimate” the threat Moscow poses in its “hidden war”.
Russia has targeted British energy infrastructure and “won’t think twice” about taking aim at businesses, he will say, as part of an attempt to degrade states supporting Ukraine.
“With a cyber attack, Russia can turn the lights off for millions of people. It can shut down the power grids,” he will say in remarks first reported by The Sunday Telegraph.
“Be in no doubt: the United Kingdom and others in this room are watching Russia.
“We know exactly what they are doing, and we are countering their attacks both publicly and behind the scenes.”
Britain has learned from history that appeasing dictators in aggression towards neighbours “only encourages them”, he’ll add.
“That’s why we support Ukraine in its fight to decide its own destiny,” he will tell the NATO Cyber Defence Conference at Lancaster House.
“Putin is a man who wants destruction, not peace. He is trying to deter our support for Ukraine with his threats.
“He will not be successful.”
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The threat is “real”, he will warn, and nobody in NATO should underestimate Russia’s cyber threat.
Mr McFadden is expected to specifically call out Unit 29155, a Russian military unit the government claims has been behind a number of attacks in the UK and Europe.
“Unofficial hacktivists” not directly under the Kremlin’s control “are allowed to act with impunity so long as they’re not working against Putin’s interests”, he will say.
It comes after South Korea, a NATO Indo-Pacific partner, was targeted in response to its monitoring of the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.