Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said an international
coalition was needed to strengthen cybersecurity against state actors and
criminals seeking to subvert democratic norms.
Authoritarian states were "bending the principles to
meet their own malicious ends", he told an online conference organised by
Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
"These actors are the industrial-scale vandals of the
21st century. They want to undermine the very foundations of our
democracy," he added.
Raab said there was a "clash of values" between
countries wanting to protect "open societies" and others pushing an
"authoritarian international system".
It follows on from a call last week by foreign ministers of
the G7 which Britain currently heads for a more joined-up approach to tackle
global threats, including in cyberspace.
In Britain, Russia in particular has been accused of
meddling in the 2019 general election and the 2014 Scottish independence
referendum.
Russia-based actors have also been blamed for attempts to
steal vital coronavirus research from British, US, and Canadian labs.
British lawmakers last year lambasted the government for
failing to investigate potential Russian interference in British politics,
including the 2016 Brexit referendum.
A long-awaited defence review in March proposed greater investment
in Britain's cyber warfare capabilities.
Raab said: "When states like Russia have criminals and
gangs operating from their territory, they have a responsibility to prosecute
those gangs, not to shelter them.
"We use our capabilities because they are necessary to
defend our citizens and safeguard international collaboration - our adversaries
use their power to steal, sabotage and ransack the international system."
Britain's NCSC dealt with 723 major incidents - the highest
figure since its formation five years ago - and stopped 700,000 online scams in
the past year, Raab added.
London has banned Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from
involvement in the roll-out of the country's superfast 5G broadband network,
after US concerns about spying.
The United States has also suffered a recent spate of
cyberattacks, including one on a fuel pipeline system last week, and a major
hack against software firm SolarWinds.
At least 30,000 US organisations suffered cyberattacks after
Microsoft email servers were targeted by alleged Chinese cyber spies.
Raab said Britain would be a leading cyberpower and work
with allies to create a cyberspace "that is free, open and benefits all
countries and all people".
He also announced a GBP 22 million investment programme to
help African and Asian countries bolster their cybersecurity capabilities.
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