UK plans new mega unit to counter cyber terrorism: Report

The British government is set to launch a new 250 million pounds cyber-force unit to help combat terrorist groups, criminal gangs and hostile states, a media report said on Friday.

The taskforce, to be set by the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), will be made up of around 2,000 recruits from the military and security services industry, almost quadrupling the number of people in current offensive cyber-crime roles in the country, The Times reports.

The unit will take on and monitor domestic crime groups as well as hostile states such as Russia and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS). It is expected to be announced soon and follows a review ordered by UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, the newspaper said.

A government spokesperson said: "The MoD and GCHQ have a long and proud history of working together...We are both committed to continuing to invest in this area, given the real threats the UK faces."
Robert Hannigan, former head of GCHQ described as the UK intelligence's listening post, said: "With some nation states (and) criminal groups behaving very aggressively, you do need some capability to be destructive yourself in a targeted way to stop some of those things happening."