Pat McFadden, British minister for intergovernmental relations, has warned NATO allies against Russian cyber criminals targeting countries supporting Ukraine, Reuters reported.
In a speech at the NATO Cyber Defence Conference in London on Monday, McFadden, who as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is the highest ranking minister in Keir Stamer’s Cabinet, discussed how malicious actors could use artificial intelligence to carry out cyberattacks. He also laid out the U.K. government’s plan to establish a new laboratory to develop improved cyber defense tools against the threat.
He said the Laboratory for AI Security Research at the University of Oxford, to be backed by the UK Integrated Security Fund, will employ academic and government experts to explore how AI can impact national security and how Russia uses the technology.
UKISF has earmarked $10.3 million for the facility.
Collective Security
McFadden said that additionally, NATO allies must pull together its collective cybersecurity, using sanctions, public attributions and a more responsive incident response mechanisms.
“Every day, we need to do this unspectacular work of plugging away at our cyber defenses: identifying weaknesses, shoring up our national barriers and continuing to work together in the name of this collective security that brought NATO’s founders together,” he said.
“It’s a continual effort in this new theatre of conflict, and an entirely necessary one.”
The minister’s remarks follow the release of a U.S. joint security guidance about Russia’s recruitment of criminals to sabotage Europe’s defense industrial base, military installations, logistics facilities and public utilities to undermine allied support for Ukraine.
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