"Jonathan Hall KC said it was a very surprising omission that the 2025 national security strategy did not focus more on online risks, including from terrorists and hostile states, which he said were now a major vector of threat. Hall said the need to protect the country against online threats with digital channels being employed widely by terrorists and states was now little different from the need for robust air, naval and land forces."
"Consider the fact that on one of most popular online games [platforms] for children, Roblox, it is possible to enact a school massacre or mosque shooting. Consider the chatbot that encouraged a man to take a crossbow to Windsor to try to kill the late Queen. Think about Dylan Earl, recently sentenced for a total of 23 years, who was recruited online by the Wagner group to arrange arson at a warehouse containing equipment destined to support Ukraine."
"Hall, who has been the reviewer of terrorism legislation for six years, said that almost all terrorism in the UK starts online. Digital life is central to national security, is not an adjunct consideration, and is not to be categorised and dismissed by drawing analogies with earlier technologies such as television, that have caused moral panics and then become integrated into our lives, he is expected to say."
The 2025 national security strategy omits sufficient focus on online risks despite digital channels now serving as a major threat vector for terrorists and hostile states. Digital life is central to national security and requires protection comparable to air, naval and land forces. Almost all terrorism in the UK now begins online, with platforms, chatbots and recruitment enabling real-world plots and attacks. Adversaries gain opportunities for hostile surveillance, cyber disruption and novel attack methodologies. Failing to address online threats leaves critical vulnerabilities in national defence and public safety.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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