Cheapskate cyber strategy won’t stop Beijing’s finest • The Register
Cheapskate cyber strategy won’t stop Beijing’s finest • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/21/ncsc_chinas_cyberattacks_uk/
Publish Date: 2026-04-21 17:30:00
Source Domain: www.theregister.com
State-sponsored cyberattacks from Chinese intelligence and military agencies display “an eye-watering level of sophistication,” UK National Cyber Security Centre CEO Richard Horne is expected to say in a less-than-cheery opening speech to kick off its annual conference.
The NCSC has in previous years labelled the threat posed by China in cyberspace as “epoch-defining,” although Horne re-jiggered this description in his opening plenary at CYBERUK 2026.
According to a transcript of his speech shared with The Register ahead of time, Horne will tell delegates attending the Glasgow conference on Wednesday that China is no longer just a capable cyber threat, but thanks to its whole-of-state approach, it now represents “a peer competitor in cyberspace.”
In October, the UK cyber agency warned that it had handled an average of four nationally significant cyberattacks a week over the previous year, with state-linked threats from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea remaining among its chief concerns.
The NCSC, alongside its partners like the National Protective Security Authority, says Russia is continuing to launch hybrid attacks against Britain and EU countries it considers hostile, all while using the techniques honed during the invasion of Ukraine.
The annual event comes weeks after reports that the UK is readying the nation – both in terms of its military and civilian population – for wartime.
Horne is to say: “We can’t know over the next ten years whether the UK will be in a state of conflict. But we do know that we must prepare for that eventuality. The Strategic Defence Review told us.
“We do know from conflicts around the world this last year that cyber operations are now integral to conflict, as much a reality of modern warfare as drones and missiles. And the scope of targeting is getting wider. The attacks on the…
