Russia is targetting UK ‘seabed to our on-line world’ as main warning issued
Anne Keast-Butler, Director of GCHQ, warns the UK faces a ‘critical race’ against Russia as intelligence shows Putin’s forces have suffered almost half a million casualties in the Ukraine war
Director of GCHQ Anne Keast-Butler delivered the warning(Image: Jacob King/PA Wire)
The Kremlin is launching assassination plots against Brits, targeting key infrastructure and attacking our democracy, UK intelligence experts have warned.
Since the start of the war nearly half a million Russian troops have perished in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a senior British intelligence chief has disclosed. Anne Keast-Butler, Director of the Government Communications Headquarters, unveiled how the Kremlin’s forces are moving “backwards” on the battleground.
Ms Keast-Butler revealed Russia is “scaling up its daily hybrid activity against the UK and Europe” across numerous fronts, including murder plots in the UK and sabotage efforts targeting Britain’s vital national infrastructure. The top boss also added machines – powered by artificial intelligence – will shortly be safeguarding national secrets, serving as a primary line of defence within five years through a new “cyber shield”.
This is because humans cannot match the pace of threats Britain is confronting, reports the Express. The boss stated in an address at Bletchley Park: “Where Russia is scaling up its daily hybrid activity against the UK and Europe, stretching from the seabed to cyberspace – relentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust.
“But let me be clear that in the face of such aggression and chaos, GCHQ is working tirelessly with intelligence and Defence partners to degrade and reduce the Russian threat.
“One area in sharp focus for us is protecting the data and energy flowing through the critical cables and pipelines in and around British waters – we do this by exposing Russia’s intent, motive and underwater capabilities. We’re also disrupting Russia’s efforts to smuggle Western tech… fending off cyber attacks… and countering reckless sabotage and assassination attempts.
“And as we remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine, Putin is going backwards on the battlefield…” She added: “With new intelligence showing that almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began.”
Ms Keast-Butler cautioned of an emerging arms race for technological dominance which will transform how conflicts are waged. She said: “Warfare is being reconfigured; increasingly data-driven, AI-enabled, and automated in conflicts from Ukraine to Iran.
“Tech companies are releasing AI-driven innovations at a remarkable pace, with untold consequences, as algorithms are weaponised often just below the threshold of traditional warfare. And China is now a science and tech superpower with sophisticated intelligence, cyber and military capabilities.”
Technology is advancing so rapidly machines will shortly need to safeguard Britain’s secrets. The cyber chief added: “GCHQ has developed the blueprint for a new national cyber defence capability that hardwires cutting-edge agentic AI into machine speed cyber defence.
“And as we draw on decades of expertise in machine learning to reimagine cyber security. We’re also embedding frontier AI deeper into our operations – responsibly and ethically – to enhance algorithms, translate foreign languages, and find needles in haystacks quicker than ever before.”
Agentic AI are autonomous systems which establish objectives, devise strategies and carry out operations with minimal human oversight. They will efficiently recognise threats against the UK, liaise with other AI “bots”, and formulate an action plan.
Britain is believed to be the sole nation worldwide attempting such an approach. However the GCHQ chief disclosed a fresh technological menace is surfacing.
She stated: “Quantum sensing is already here – our new cutting-edge work with academia and industry is identifying the fingerprints of stealth platforms, such as detecting missile launches.
“And once they are operational, quantum computers will be able to complete, in a matter of seconds, tasks that currently take years.
“That includes defeating the codes and encryption that keeps our secrets safe today. So, we must protect our most critical systems from future quantum attacks.”
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