Hackers working for the UK’s National Cyber Force (NCF) have made hundreds of thousands of stolen credit cards useless to criminals, according to GCHQ chief Sir Jeremy Fleming.
The operation means that “tens of millions of pounds in potential fraud” against the British economy have been avoided, said the head of spies at the Cyber UK conference in Newport.
Ministry of Defense and GCHQ operatives have “installed undermining operations [criminals’] networks and prevent them from making money from their crimes, as well as denying them access to their cyber tools and malware, ”he said.
“Through the NCF, we are actively undermining the assumption of cybercriminals that they can go unpunished on the Internet. “We have upset the criminals by making it clear that they are being monitored and we are persecuting their ability to profit from illegal activities,” he said in a rare reference to operational activities.
Although no details were given about these operations, they were given as an example of legal and legitimate hacking, in stark contrast to the attacks on Ukraine that the United Kingdom has blamed on Russia.
Perhaps the most significant attacks on Ukraine took place on the same day as Russian forces poured into the country, when malware to blow up Viasat customers’ satellite broadband routers was blown up, rendering them effectively useless.
The attack was widespread, affecting 5,800 Enercon-powered wind turbines in Germany that used Viasat for remote monitoring and control.
Western officials have not officially blamed Russia for the attack, although they have accused Russia’s Central Intelligence Agency (GRU) of cyberattacks targeting Ukraine’s financial sector.
The war in Ukraine is “on the front of all our minds,” Sir Jeremy told the conference, adding: “The suffering and wider humanitarian consequences are terrible, because we see the consequences of indiscriminate warfare and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s mistakes are being played out on the battlefield. “
Image: Sir Jeremy Fleming praises UK offensive hacking ability
The concept of Russia’s “cyber war” is “exaggerated”
Sir Jeremy added: “It is already a remarkable feature of this war how much information about the behavior and tactics of Russian forces is in the public domain.
“And how much intelligence has been released by Western allies to provoke and anticipate Putin’s actions,” he added.
“This is a modern war, influenced and shaped by the democratization of information. And fortunately, Ukrainians are doing great – we are proud to play our part in supporting their efforts,” he said.
In a speech in Australia last month, Sir Jeremy revealed declassified intelligence revealing the failures of the Russian military: “We have seen Russian soldiers – without weapons and morale – refuse to carry out orders, sabotage their own equipment and even accidentally shoot down their own planes.”
He added on Tuesday: “Probably the concept of cyber warfare has been exaggerated. But there is a lot of cybernetics, including a number of activities that we and our partners attribute to Russia. We have seen what a certain spillover of activity affecting other countries looks like.
“And we have seen indications that Russian cyber cooperatives continue to seek targets in countries that oppose their actions.
“That is why we have stepped up our efforts to ensure that business and the UK government urgently improve cyber resilience levels. And why, together with our allies, we will continue to support Ukraine in strengthening their cyber defense. “
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