The identity of the commander of Britain’s National Cyber Force has been revealed—and he has given his first interview to shashj
6 and the armed forces—hacks computers and their networks. Today, that means everything from smartphones to fighter jets. Hacking can do physical damage, as America and Israel showed in the Stuxnet attack on Iranian nuclear facilities over a decade ago. It can also wipe data, as Russia has done prolifically in Ukraine. But thesees its ultimate goal as influencing the behaviour of people or groups, whether criminals, terrorists or state adversaries.
Sometimes that means simple disruption, such as disabling a server or app that terrorists are using to communicate. But it usually calls for a more artful approach. “Covert techniques may be used to reach out to individuals who pose a significant threat,” says the. In 2018, for instance, the Pentagon’s Cyber Command sent targeted messages to Russian hackers to dissuade them from interfering in that year’s American midterm elections.
More often the aim is to stay in the shadows. “The intent is sometimes that adversaries do not realise that the effects they are experiencing are the result of a cyber operation,” says the. In its experience, the “greatest cognitive effect” comes from tinkering with an enemy’s networks over time—what Mr Babbage calls “tilting the playing field imperceptibly”.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underscores the difference. Its cyber-attack on communication satellites inadvertently disrupted nearly 6,000 wind turbines in Germany. Russian digital propaganda has been crude and scattershot, using deepfake videos and fake news outlets. “Our currency really is the truth,” insists Mr Babbage. “The wider our audience, the more critical it is that what we’re putting out is true.
Britain is still learning what that means in practice. In the past it often thought military cyber-attacks would be tactical—say, electronic warfare to take out a particular radar at a key moment. Now, says Mr Babbage, they seem most useful at the “theatre” level: influencing enemy generals in their headquarters, rather than colonels in the field. Two military lawyers sit within therefuses to discuss specific operations, citing the benefits of ambiguity.
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