GCHQ Director to Address Russian Cyber and Sabotage Threats in First Public Speech

GCHQ Director Anne Keast-Butler will deliver her first public speech on Wednesday at Bletchley Park, the agency's wartime headquarters. " She says GCHQ is working with intelligence and defence partners "to degrade and reduce the Russian threat" amid accusations of espionage, sabotage and assassination attempts on British soil.

The Kremlin has denied responsibility for several incidents cited in the excerpts. These include the 2006 murder of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London and the 2018 attempted poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

Since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has also been accused of conducting a "hybrid war" against Western countries, including the UK. A BBC Verify analysis reported that hundreds of Russian "shadow fleet" vessels have entered UK waters since the prime minister threatened to intercept them earlier this year.

Keast-Butler will also address China's advances in science, technology and artificial intelligence, describing a narrowing window for the UK and its allies to maintain technological advantage. She characterises the situation as "the ground beneath our feet" shifting.

The director urges collaboration between government, the tech industry, academia and the public. She recommends that individuals switch to passkeys and that organisations hard-wire security into new technologies and supply chains. GCHQ, the largest of the UK's three intelligence agencies, focuses on signals intelligence and cyber security.

It is based in Cheltenham and receives the largest share of the national intelligence budget.