UK military 'hunt forces' look to track down cyber criminals in real world

The UK military is reportedly deploying cybersecurity 'hunt forces' overseas to physically track down cyber criminals trying to attack British military systems.

The Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force (DCEMF) DCEMF was set up last year, and includes more than 700 military personnel and civil servants.

In an interview with The Times, DCEMF commander major general Mike Fayers said that soldiers, sailors, and aviators are being dispatched by land, sea, or air to countries across Europe and Asia to track down cyber criminals.

“Whereas historically we have defended on our territory, we are now defending ourselves forward of our own networks,” he told the paper.

“We are trying to hunt for our adversaries in places where they prepare before they target UK military systems. I mean, sending people physically to places to virtually hunt for the adversary to protect our systems."

The forces, he said, are only deployed with the agreement of the country concerned, and are searching for both state actors or criminals. The aim is to stop cyber attacks in their early stages in order to prevent them from escalating into large-scale attacks.

“We’ve seen AI now exploiting vulnerabilities at a speed we have not seen before. Whereas historically we would have had a few days to fix vulnerabilities, we are now in double-digit minutes to respond to those vulnerabilities,” Fayers said.

The teams have expertise in both defensive cybersecurity capabilities and electromagnetic warfare, and work to identify threats, protect military communications, and disrupt hostile digital activities.

The scale of their work is not known, but Fayers said that operations often require approval from defence secretary Wes Streeting.

Escalating threats

News of the hunt forces comes in the wake of a spate of cyber attacks on infrastructure that has led Streeting to urge households to stockpile essentials in case of a major attack. Just last week, cyber attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe saw large quantities of food ruined.

“The military deploying forward hunt forces shows that cyber defence is now a proactive frontline operation. Hostile actors are increasingly targeting physical infrastructure like commercial refrigeration and medical storage to cause tangible disruption," said Dray Agha, senior manager, tactical response at Huntress.

Fayers also warned that malicious code might already be hidden within the Ministry of Defence's IT systems, potentially allowing attackers to interfere with military operations.

Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at Check Point, welcomed efforts to proactively tackle cyber crime around the world.

"Serious cyber attacks are rarely spontaneous; they’re prepared over weeks or months through reconnaissance, quiet footholds and malware left waiting in place. The earlier that activity is found, the less chance it has to ‘go bang’ when it matters most," he said.

Stewart urged organizations, particularly those in the public sector, to ramp up efforts to tackle malicious code and potential vulnerabilities before they wreak havoc.

"But the warning that malicious code may already be sitting inside military systems should be heard well beyond defense. The same hostile actors are probing councils, NHS trusts, utilities and the suppliers that serve them, many of which have a fraction of the resources."

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