GCHQ: UK critical services cyber threat is real

The cyber threat facing UK critical services is "real and credible," according to GCHQ director Iain Lobban.

Addressing delegates at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Lobban said GCHQ has worked with critical infrastructure operators on dealing with attacks.

Concerns have escalated over the security of critical services since the emergence of Stuxnet, a virus which targeted service providers in its attempt to compromise controls in industrial facilities.

Stuxnet was seen to be most prevalent in Iran and a number of high-profile security companies suggested the worm was created with state backing.

"Much attention has been paid in the media to the potential for cyber attacks to seriously disrupt critical national infrastructure," Lobban said.

"I would not wish to talk about the steps we take with the security service to reduce specific vulnerabilities. But the threat is a real and credible one."

He explained GCHQ gives expert advice and incident response to critical infrastructure providers, but the security body needs to be quicker in its response and try to match "the speed at which cyber events happen."

"We need to consider the value of receiving in return a direct feed of information from the operators with that same sort of timeliness so that we are aware of the attacks that they are seeing on their systems as they happen," he said.