UK's intelligence agency, GCHQ in its annual report expressed concern over nations allegedly 'hiring hackers' in order to launch attacks on enemy states.
According to Fox News, GCHQ described the hackers as skilled cyber professionals undertaking attacks on diverse targets such as financial institutions and energy companies.
Although the agency did not specify the countries carrying out such attacks, it expressed concern over the proliferation of private companies that profit from developing and distributing offensive software adding that the cyber threat UK is facing is of 'highest level' and is expected to grow even further.
The report said that Russia and China were earlier alleged to have carried out attacks over the internet.
The agency further said that the hackers' combination of their capability and the objectives of their state backers make them of particular concern, the report added.
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