Government fears IS militants plan to hack air traffic control
The UK is to double its fund to fight cybercrime amid fears that Islamic State militants are planning to attack UK infrastructure, including air traffic control.
Chancellor George Osborne will announce later today that the terrorist group is known to be trying to build the capability to hack keys services, such as NATS.
Speaking just hours after it was confirmed that a bomb did bring down a holiday flight over Egypt, Osborne will confirm that a fund to fight cybercrime will double to £1.9 million a year by 2020.
Osborne, who is visiting the GCHQ listening station in Cheltenham later today, is also expected to announce the creation of a new National Cyber Centre to bring together the country’s experts in online security, said the BBC.
Speaking in the wake of the IS attack in Paris on Friday, Osborne will say that the terrorist group is seeking to hack essential UK infrastructure, such as hospitals, power stations, schools and banks.
He believes they are attempting to kill people, not just to cause economic damage.
According to the BBC, the Government doesn’t believe IS yet have the capability, but they are working towards it.
"From our banks to our cars, our military to our schools, whatever is online is also a target," Osborne will say. "The stakes could hardly be higher.
"If our electricity supply, or our air traffic control, or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost."
Prime Minister David Cameron has already announced extra funding for UK security services and Home Secretary Theresa May said security will be stepped up at airports and ports and in major UK cities.
Funding has been announced for an extra 1,900 security and intelligence officers at MI5, MI6 and GCHQ
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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