In preparation for the upcoming UK general election, a protection service called Personal Internet Protection is being offered to political candidates, election officials, and other high-risk individuals who may be targeted online. This initiative comes in response to previous attempts by Russian and Chinese hacking groups to target UK institutions and prominent figures. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a division of the GCHQ intelligence agency, will provide this service to individuals considered at risk from attacks by hostile states. The NCSC plans to offer an opt-in cyber protection service that will detect and alert individuals if any malicious activity is detected on their email accounts or devices. The service, based on the NCSC’s Protective DNS technology, blocks access to malicious websites and protects against phishing, spyware, and malware attacks. The World Economic Forum has also identified concerns about the risks posed by hostile nation states to disrupt elections. The NCSC has provided guidance to civil society groups, including journalists, activists, academics, lawyers, and dissidents, who may also be targeted by malicious hackers. During the CyberUK conference, agencies from 10 countries met in Birmingham, and Computer Weekly identified the Russian FSB operation, known as Callisto, ColdRiver, Tag-53, TA446, and BlueCharlie, as the group responsible for targeting high-profile individuals in the UK. The Protective DNS service is currently used by public sector organizations and has prevented access to 1.5 million malicious domains, handling over 2.5 trillion site requests, according to the NCSC.
GCHQ’s Efforts Aimed at Safeguarding Politicians and Election Candidates against Cyber Attacks
