National Cyber Force reveals how daily cyber operations protect the UK

Established in 2020, the National Cyber Force (NCF) is a partnership between GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence which carries out cyber operations on a daily basis to protect against threats to the UK, further the UK’s foreign policy, support military operations, and prevent serious crime.

Following the publication of the Government’s Integrated Review Refresh (IRR) last month, the publication of a new document titled ‘NCF: Responsible Cyber Power in Practice’ today delivers on the commitment in the IRR to be as transparent as possible about the NCF’s cyber capabilities and provide clarity on how the UK acts as a responsible and democratic cyber power.

The UK is reiterating its commitment to international stability and security, and illustrating how states can act responsibly in cyberspace through demonstrating how the NCF’s operations are accountable, precise and calibrated. This contrasts with the reckless and indiscriminate activities of those who would do harm to the UK and its allies.

All of the NCF’s operations are conducted in a legal and ethical manner, in line with domestic and international law and national values. The operations are based on a deep understanding of the cyber environment, which enables NCF to design, time and target them with precision.

Central to the NCF’s approach is the ‘doctrine of cognitive effect’ – using techniques that have the potential to sow distrust, decrease morale, and weaken adversaries’ abilities to plan and conduct their activities effectively. This can include preventing terrorist groups from publishing pieces of extremist media online or making it harder for states to use the internet to spread disinformation by affecting their perception of the operating environment.

The NCF’s work is covert and it therefore does not reveal details of individual operations. Indeed the intent is sometimes that adversaries do not realise that the effects they are experiencing are the result of a cyber operation. This ambiguity can help to amplify the cognitive effect.

Despite the necessary level of secrecy, in line with their commitment to being a responsible cyber actor, the NCF have disclosed that over the last three years it has delivered operations to:

• protect military deployments overseas;
• disrupt terrorist groups;
• counter sophisticated, stealthy and continuous cyber threats;
• counter state disinformation campaigns;
• reduce the threat of external interference in democratic elections; and
• remove child sexual abuse material from public spaces online.

Through ‘NCF: Responsible Cyber Power in Practice’, the UK is reiterating its commitment to international stability and security, and illustrating how states can act responsibly in cyberspace, in line with domestic and international law.