Pat McFadden, whose portfolio includes national security, will tell a NATO cybersecurity conference in London that Moscow "would not think twice about targeting British businesses," according to excerpts of his address released by his ministry.
He will also note that "unofficial hacktivists", who have been given "impunity" by the Kremlin, are carrying out "increasingly frequent, and in some cases increasingly sophisticated" attacks around the world.
This includes the recent targeting of South Korea "in response to its monitoring of North Korean troop deployments" in Russia, McFadden will argue.
The accusations come at a time when tensions between Russia and the West have escalated dramatically, with President Vladimir Putin warning last week that the war in Ukraine has the characteristics of a "global" conflict.
The growing friction has sparked new concern in London and other Western capitals that Putin may step up cyberattacks and other non-military measures.
"Given the scale of this hostility, my message to members today is clear: no one should underestimate the Russian cyber threat to NATO. Over the past year, both the Russian military and its unofficial army of cyber criminals and hacktivists have not only stepped up their attacks, but expanded their targets to include a number of NATO members and partners," McFadden will say, noting that "the threat is real." | BGNES
