WARSAW, (BM) – Britain has used its offensive capabilities in cyberspace to attack targets in Russia. Such information was shared with the media by the former head of the British civil service, Sir Mark Sedwill, learned BulgarianMilitary.com citing CyberDefence24.
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A former cabinet member of Prime Minister Boris Jonhson revealed that Britain carried out a series of operations targeting Russian leaders. According to Sedwill, attempts were made to take advantage of the weaknesses of the Russian system, using, among others, offensive capabilities in cyberspace that the British recently admitted to having. Britain is to be able to carry out operations to degrade, disrupt and destroy the critical infrastructure of its enemies in conflict in cyberspace, said General Patrick Sanders, UK Strategic Command Commander.
Sir Mark Sedwill admitted that cyber attacks were aimed at making Russia pay the highest price for its aggressive behavior. In an interview with Times Radio, he said that the Kremlin was operating in the so-called the gray zone, where the boundary between the state of peace and war is blurred, using tools in the field of information warfare or cyber attacks on a large scale. Sedwill said that this is why it is so important that Western countries can adapt to these conditions and move freely in the gray area.
Activities in cyberspace were prevent illegal transfers of money from Russia. Sedwill reported that measures in cyberspace have been used, inter alia, after poisoning Sergei Skripal, a former GRU officer in the UK in 2018.
At the same time, Great Britain decided to create new forces in cyberspace, the main purpose of which was to conduct offensive operations against enemy states, terrorist groups and criminal organizations. The Ministry of Defense has allocated £ 250 million for this purpose.
Information about Western offensive operations in cyberspace will very rarely appear in the media, especially if the target of the attack is a second country. Until now, the USCYBERCOM operation against the Russian troll factory in 2018 during the Congressional elections was known. Western countries also boasted about operations against ISIS.
Given the growing role of cyberspace, there will be more and more such operations. The West wants to use its technological advantage against adversaries who have long used the information space to attack NATO and EU countries.
Did the British scan the frequencies of S-400 systems? Russia thinks they are close
The British Air Force has begun jamming the radar systems of Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, which are located near Crimea, BulgarianMilitary.com reported on September 22. According to Russian colleagues and information officially confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense near the border with Crimea, where these air defense systems are located, dozens of reconnaissance military aircraft have appeared.
Read more: Cyber security of European countries at risk
Their main goal is to scan the Russian frequencies of the S-300 and S-400 systems by directing electronic effects, which will allow in the future easier identification of the vulnerability of Russia’s anti-aircraft systems.
It is a known fact that the S-400 is considered to be the best air defense system in the world and because of this (and others) causes Turkey, China, India and other countries buy this new Russian military technology. It should be recalled that the S-400 is a completely renewed S-300 system, with greater range and precise radar capable of detecting stealth technology aircraft.
If the British Air Force succeeds in scanning Russian frequencies, it would allow stealth fighters such as the F-22 and F-35 to approach at a closer distance in a region where these systems are deployed. Journalists from the Russian edition of Voenni Novosti report that the scan in question was carried out in late August this year and, according to the author of the article, this is for the first time in history an ‘unprecedented operation to bring the Russian military into a defensive rather than attacking position’.
The author of the article in Voenni Novosti shared that the operation was carried out over the Black Sea, as the planes flew in a group of five. Military experts rule out the possibility of a possible future strike on Russia, but some conspiracy theorists say such a large-scale operation by the British Air Force means just that. A Russian military expert told Avia.pro that in this way the British and their NATO partners could at some point find a breakthrough in the electronics of the systems, especially in the field of integrated operation.
This is also of great importance, according to the expert, as the Russian S-400 and S-500 systems, which are in charge of Russia’s defense in various areas, work in an integrated mode and constantly exchange information about what is happening above them or near 400 km. Of course, it should be noted that the Russians, like any normal military force in the world, daily change the codes and frequencies of their anti-aircraft systems, located not only in the Russian Federation, but also in military bases around the world, where they are located.
Read more: Bulgaria’s MPs Adopted a New Cyber Security Act
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