Cyber ​ ​ war of Russia and Great Britain

Main article: UK

Cyber Warfare Regulation

Main article: Cyber ​ ​ wars

Since 2011, Russia began to make efforts to agree at the UN documents on the management of conflicts in cyberspace.

• Cyber ​ ​ war of Russia and the United States

Organizations

• UK National Information Security Programme
• UK Government Communications Centre

2022

Britain sent cyber spies to help Ukraine

On November 1, 2022, the information portal of the UK government disclosed information about the UK Ukraine Cyber ​ ​ Program initiative to support Ukraine in cyberspace. Read more here.

Britain, USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Estonia support the work of fraudulent call centers in Ukraine against Russians

At the end of October 2022 Russian Foreign Ministry , he accused Western countries of supporting "hostile" call centers on. To Ukraine A number of Western countries, including,,, and Britain USA, GERMANY Netherlands Poland Estonia are pursuing a policy of infrastructure support for the functioning of Ukrainian call centers engaged in fraud against Russians.

2021

The Russian Embassy commented on Britain's statements about the malicious activities of the special services

The Russian Embassy in the UK considers the statements of the United Kingdom Foreign Ministry about the alleged malicious activities of the Russian special services unfounded accusations in order to support the position of the United States. This was reported to the TASS correspondent by the Russian Information Agency on April 15, 2021, the representative of the Embassy of the^[1].

The Foreign Office's published statement in the diplomatic mission was called "nothing more than an attempt to play along with the United States, which, faced with the obvious failure of its own efforts to ensure cybersecurity, is trying to blame Russia out of habit." "At the same time, London again uses unfounded accusations with highly likely argumentation, not at all concerned with the presentation of any serious, not to mention impressive, texture in this regard. At the same time, it was possible to advertise its own cyber potential: generous funding of the National Center for Cybersecurity, military cyber services and other structures requires regular justification in the form of an "external threat," the embassy noted.

"I would like to remind you that the Russian side at different levels has repeatedly offered British colleagues to establish a constructive discussion of painful issues in the field of cybersecurity in the format of experts, which would be very in demand both for our countries and the international community as a whole. It remains only to regret that even in the new doctrinal documents, London does not leave the possibility of dialogue with Moscow on topical topics of mutual interest, "said the representative of the embassy.

"We have accumulated a lot of questions for the British side, which demonstratively and tirelessly declares the presence of advanced offensive potentials in the cyber sphere, which - coupled with the existing political attitudes in the Russian direction - indicates a possible threat to the security of our country," he added.

The Russian diplomatic mission considers such attempts to be short-sighted. "Recently, the desire of London to declare itself more loudly as a significant international player in the conditions of parting with the European Union has become more and more clearly manifested. Well, it's up to the British authorities. However, it seems to us extremely short-sighted to make attempts to assert ourselves to the detriment of mutually beneficial bilateral relations with Russia, "the embassy noted.

London allegations

On Thursday, the UK Government Communications Headquarters argued that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service was probably behind the hacking of the software of the American company SolarWinds. British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said that Russia's actions are malicious, promising that he will always try to publicly point to them.

After that, the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, was summoned to the Foreign Office, where he expressed concern to the United Kingdom about this topic, as well as about the buildup of armed forces near the border with Ukraine.

2020

Press Secretary of the President of Russia: Britain's desire to blame Russia for everything and everything are signs of unhealthy Russophobia

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Peskov told reporters that the desire of Western countries to blame Russia and its special services for everything and everything are signs of unhealthy Russophobia. This became known on October 20, 2020.

This is already reminiscent of the constantly occurring relapses of such rabid Russophobia, which, of course, have nothing to do with reality, "he said, commenting on Great Britain USA the charges brought by the authorities against six Russians in connection hacker attacks with websites, Olympic Games campaign headquarters Donald Trump , etc.

Peskov noted that the Russian Federation and its special services were never going to attack the Olympic Games.

We are regretfully observing a trend when Russia or the Russian special services are already accused of everything and everything, "he stressed.

The British Foreign Ministry and the National Cyber ​ ​ Security Center of Great Britain previously stated that Russian hackers from the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (formerly GRU) were conducting a "cyber intelligence operation" aimed at the organizers of the Games, their sponsors and logistics companies. This was allegedly done to disable computer systems, preventing the competition^[2] the accusations of^[3]

UK releases' Russian threat 'report

On July 21, the UK Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee published^[4] report on the "Russian threat" to the country's national security, the UK^[5]

"The Intelligence and Security Committee has questioned whether the government has paid enough attention to Russia and believes it underestimates the retaliatory measures required to counter the Russian threat and is still playing catch-up," the report's authors said.

According to the document, the UK is a "target for disinformation" from Russia. While the mechanics of Britain's paper voting system are largely reliable, deliberate actions by a hostile state to influence the country's democratic processes cannot go unnoticed. In particular, social networks should fight the spread of disinformation, including removing hidden materials from a hostile state. The government, in turn, should publicly shame those who refuse to do so.

"Russia is a very strong adversary in cyberspace, using organized criminal groups to supplement its cyberguides. Russia carries out malicious cyber activities with the aim of aggressive self-assertion, for example, trying to interfere in the elections of other countries. She also carried out preliminary positioning in the national critical infrastructure of other countries. Given the immediate threat this poses to our national security, we are concerned about the lack of coordination between the numerous organisations in the UK intelligence community working on this issue. The situation is also aggravated by the too complex scheme of sharing duties between ministers, "the report says.

"Almost certainly it was the Russian intelligence services"

"Almost certainly it was the Russian special services": the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom say that Russian hackers "commit cyber attacks on organizations related to the search for a vaccine against coronavirus"

A July 2020 publication published by the UK's National Cyber ​ ​ Security Center (NCSC) talks about attacks on organizations looking for a vaccine against COVID-19. The attacks are attributed to hacker group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear, which they claim "almost certainly" works for Russian intelligence agencies.

"APT29's campaign of malicious action continues. The actions are directed mainly against government, diplomatic, analytical, medical and energy facilities. Their likely target is the theft of valuable intellectual property, "the press release said. "With a probability of more than 95%" this group is associated with the Russian special services, the special services say.

"The group uses a variety of tools and techniques, including phishing and malware known as WellMess and WellMail," it said. The statement also mentions that before that Cozy Bear was not associated with these programs,

Earlier today, a statement by the country's Foreign Ministry appeared on the website of the British Parliament that Russia "almost certainly" interfered in the 2019 parliamentary elections: "Although we have no evidence, we consider interference unacceptable," Dominic Raab said in a statement. Here you can also find already familiar "high likes," "this is unacceptable!" and "we leave the right to retaliate."

The Kremlin commented on the accusations: "We do not have information on who could hack pharmaceutical companies and research centers in the UK. We can say one thing - Russia has nothing to do with these attempts, "said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian president. The Russian Foreign Ministry also called these accusations unfounded

2019

Conducting exercises to hack the accounts of British politicians by "Russian hackers"

On November 10, 2019, it became known that the British counterintelligence conducted exercises in which the accounts of some politicians of the country were hacked by the so-called the Russian hackers"." Because of this, the owners of hacked accounts were temporarily banned from using gadgets.

This led to a breakdown in campaigns and problems preparing for the elections.

Parliamentarians were also told not to divulge that their data was in the access of an "outside source," but to report to the MI-5 if they noticed something strange in the phone or computer.

One of the parliamentarians told the newspaper that counterintelligence officers discovered a concerted effort to hack accounts from a foreign power.

Now politicians know what to do with any "strange actions" on their phones and computers - contact MI5^[6].

The Russian Embassy in London responded to publications about "Russian hackers"

On October 24, 2019, it became known that the embassy Russia London called the publications the British MEDIA on the alleged harmful activities of "Russian hacker groups" an unscrupulous interpretation of the brief report of the British the American and special services.

As noted in the embassy, the special services in their report did not put forward any accusations against Russia and Russian citizens, but only pointed out suspicions that this is how Turla is based on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The embassy noted that the report contains many technical details, but its authors do not specify which countries were targeted by hackers attacks and which organizations were affected. Allegations that services were allegedly used for such cyber attacks the Iranian computer are considered by diplomats to be an attempt to "drive a wedge between Russia and Iran."

The British center cyber security NCSC NSA USA and published a joint report in which they claim that the hacker group Turla used Iranian computer services, including Neuron and Nautilus, to kidnap confidential, data state institutions as well as military, technological, power and commercial organizations in 35 countries.

The Turla cyber group, also known as Snake and Uroboros, gained fame in 2008 after hacking into secure objects, including the network of the Central Command of the Armed Forces USA^[7]

2018

Accusations against Russia in a cyber attack on an Islamic TV channel in the UK

Three years ago, the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces allegedly carried out a cyber attack on the British television channel Islam Channel and gained full control over its infrastructure and computer networks. As the Financial Times reported in October 2018, the incident allegedly took place in July 2015, and over the next five months, the British special services made huge efforts to expel "Russian hackers" from the networks of the Main Directorate of^[8] Forces^[9].

'They

had total control. They could see everything we were doing. For weeks, we have been unable to send or receive email. We felt powerless, "admitted an Islam Channel spokesperson. Millions of Muslims in the UK watch the TV channel, a spokeswoman said. In addition, its programs are broadcast to Russia and Central Asian countries. "There are a lot of Russians watching us," said an Islam Channel spokesman

.

Britain blames Russian intelligence for power grid attacks

The UK accused in September 2018 the General Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of carrying out a number of cyber attacks on its critical infrastructure. As a source in the British government told reporters The Daily Telegraph, energy networks, communication systems and the media fell under the cyber strike ^[10]

cyber security Kiaran Martin, head of the National Cyber ​ ​ Security Center (NCSC), expressed concern about the growing number of cyber attacks on the country by the Russian Federation last year. In particular, Martin reported on attacks on energy networks, telecommunications and media companies at the Times Tech Summit, which took place London almost a year ago.

The NCSC was founded in 2016 and has prevented more than 600 major incidents in its year of existence. Groups associated with the Russian government tested the security of British critical infrastructure in order to identify its weaknesses, the NCSC is confident. Despite the fact that the attackers' attempts to gain full access to the attacked networks were unsuccessful, they could collect enough information to prepare more significant cyber attacks.

Britain thinks it is ready to retaliate in the event of cyber attacks from the Russian Federation

The UK may consider retaliatory cyber attacks on Russia in the event of attacks on British national infrastructure on its part. This was reported on April 2018 by the Sunday Times, citing unnamed sources at the British Government Communications Center (DIN)^[11]

The DIN convened an emergency summit with British political parties and warned them of the risk of possible cyber attacks from the Russian side, designed to influence the next election. The intelligence agency believes that hackers "funded by the Kremlin" can steal and publish internal electronic correspondence or publish databases on the political views of voters in order to harm the reputation of political parties.

According to sources, the publication of compromising evidence is included in the action plan of Russia. Moreover, it has every opportunity for such a large-scale dissemination of information. In this regard, the protection of the UK political system from foreign hackers is currently a priority in the work of the DIN.

2017: British government accuses Russia of attacking its power grids

Over the past year, "Russian hackers" have attacked British electricity, telecommunications and media companies. This statement was made by the head of the British National Cyber ​ ​ Security Center (NCSC) Ciaran Martin at the Times Tech Summit in London^[12].

"I cannot go into details in intelligence cases, but I can confirm that Russia's intervention, fixed by the National Center for Combating Cybercrime for a year, includes attacks on British media, telecommunications and energy organizations," Martin quoted The Telegraph as saying.

According to the head of the NCSC, in order to combat the threat, the department actively attracts international partners, as well as industrial and civil society, to cooperate. During its year of existence, the NCSC blocked tens cyber attacks of millions and responded to 590 incidents, including ransomware attacks. ON WannaCry These attacks contact North Korea, but the government Great Britain is most concerned about the "Russian hackers."

2016: "The Russians are trying to hack everything." British ministers banned from wearing Apple Watch

British ministers have been banned from wearing an Apple Watch during government meetings for fear it could be hacked by Russian hackers to use as listening devices. This was reported by The Daily Telegraph, citing unnamed sources^[13].

"The

Russians are trying to hack everything," one source said.

The ban was introduced after Theresa May took over as Prime Minister of Great Britain in the summer of 2016. In the government of her predecessor David Cameron, several members of the government wore "smartwatches."

Notes