Govt green paper kicks off plans for cyber-war strategy review
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The Ministry of Defence has this week published a green paper, outlining plans for a major post-election Strategic Defence Review (SDR). In a foreword, defence secretary Bob Ainsworth outlined the objective of the paper, announcing the SDR would be held, "immediately after the next election."
"The Review must contribute to decisions about the role we want the United Kingdom to play in the world and how much the nation is prepared to pay for security and defence," Ainsworth added.
"Cyber Space, in particular, poses serious and complex challenges for UK security and for the Armed Forces operations," says the green paper. "Cyber attacks are already an important element of the security environment and are growing in seriousness and frequency. The most sophisticated threat is from established and capable states but cyber eliminates the importance of distance, is low cost and is anonymous in nature, making it an important domain, not just for hostile states, but terrorists, and criminals alike."
It continued, "Cyber space is critical to much of our military effort here and overseas and to our national infrastructure. We have to be able to defend against intelligence gathering or more malicious activities, not just to protect our routine business, but also our ability to conduct high-tempo operations.
"We believe it is important to take account of a wide range of views in preparing for the Strategic Defence Review and hope that this Green Paper will help encourage and inform public debate," a Ministry of Defence statement added.
The green paper's launch comes in the week the International Institute for Strategic Studies published its annual Military Balance report, in which it highlighted the growing threat from cyber-warfare. "Despite evidence of cyber attacks in recent political conflicts, there is little appreciation internationally of how to assess cyber-conflict," commented IISS director-general John Chipman at the launch of Military Balance 2010. "We are now, in relation to the problem of cyber-warfare, at the same stage of intellectual development as we were in the 1950s in relation to possible nuclear war."
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