Crime & justice

UK Sends Cyber 'Hunt Forces' Abroad to Stop Hackers

Is hunting hackers abroad with AI-powered defenses meeting the threat head on or is it a distraction while hospitals and food supplies stay soft targets?

2 hours ago·Updated 21 minutes ago

UK Sends Cyber 'Hunt Forces' Abroad to Stop Hackers

Story

Above: U.K. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting in Berlin, Germany on Nov. 2. Image credit: Carsten Koall/picture alliance/Getty Images

The Facts

The U.K. is reportedly deploying "hunt forces" overseas to disrupt hackers preparing to strike military systems, according to a report published in The Sunday Times, with troops sent to countries across Europe and Asia on missions that often require direct approval from Defense Secretary Wes Streeting.
Independent
The Times (UK)
Major General Mike Fayers, commander of the Defense Cyber and Electromagnetic Force, said the U.K. is now "defending ourselves forward of our own networks" and that AI has cut response times to vulnerabilities from days to "double-digit minutes."
The National News
LBC
GB News
Hackers last week raised temperatures in cold storage rooms at France's national blood bank, after a wave of attacks in which fridges and freezers at European stores were remotely turned up to as much as 80°C (176°F), spoiling food.
Independent
The Telegraph
This comes as Irish authorities are treating the risk of a security incident at two leaders' summits in Dublin this week as "substantial." The Times reported that missions take place with host nation consent and can target both state actors or criminals.
The Telegraph
The National News
The Defense Cyber and Electromagnetic Force, unveiled in last year's strategic defense review, has more than 700 regulars, reserves and civil servants and pairs defensive cyber work with electromagnetic warfare.
Independent
The Times (UK)
This comes as the U.K. government has urged the public to stockpile food, water, medicine and wind-up radios as part of a national "Be Ready" campaign, with Streeting asking households to keep three days of essentials in case of cyberattacks on key infrastructure or other emergencies.
Independent
GB News
Government of the United Kingdom

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Going after hostile hackers in the places where attacks are staged beats sitting back and waiting for military networks to be crippled. On-the-ground action, money for AI-powered cyber defense and a national shield show the threat is best met head-on, with the government doing all that it can to ensure that Britain remains safe in increasingly dangerous times.

The Times (UK)

Government of the United Kingdom

Government-critical narrative

Chasing hackers overseas means little while supermarket fridges, blood stores and hospital systems at home remain soft targets, while a government "readiness" deadline sitting a decade away is a reckless gamble when the threat is here and now. Telling households to stockpile tins does little to reassure the public at a time when Britain's infrastructure remains heavily at risk.