The British government is initiating its largest military and civil defence exercises in more than a decade, following a sharp increase in coordinated cyberattacks on municipal water and energy networks that officials attribute to Russia.
The National Cyber Security Centre, working with the Home Office, has launched an emergency audit of the country’s critical infrastructure and updated the national threat register to include new risks tied to cyber resilience. The moves come as London prepares for a series of nationwide drills designed to test the readiness of government institutions against disinformation campaigns, sabotage of critical infrastructure and other hybrid attacks.
Darren Jones, the prime minister’s chief secretary, said the government would also conduct a national civil defence exercise in the event of a hybrid attack on the United Kingdom. He warned that a cyberattack could affect access to electricity, water, communications or even local food shops.
Threat register updated
For the first time, the updated list of the most serious threats to national security includes attempts to interfere in democratic processes, such as election interference, disinformation campaigns and foreign influence operations. Special attention is also being paid to cyberattacks on data storage infrastructure, water supply systems and police networks.
Separately, the register identifies the risk of a “digital resilience failure”, drawing lessons from the widespread CrowdStrike outage in 2024 that disabled more than eight million Microsoft Windows computers globally.
Defence spending rises amid NATO warnings
The increased defence posture is backed by a £15bn rise in military spending. Under the government’s plan, the defence budget will reach £80bn per year by 2029, equivalent to 2.7% of GDP, and 3.5% by 2035. More than £64bn is earmarked for nuclear deterrent modernisation, £5bn for drone development and over £8bn for combat aviation.
The exercises and spending increases follow NATO warnings that Russia could be ready to attack a European country by 2030, and come after years of what officials acknowledge was an underestimation of the Russian threat before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Public information campaign launched
The government has also announced a national information campaign to prepare citizens for emergencies, from extreme weather and flooding to large-scale cyberattacks. New guidelines will be issued to schools and colleges to teach children how to stay safe during such crises. Hundreds of government officials and ministers will participate in multi-day drills.
In parallel, London is expanding international cooperation, including a new partnership with Turkey to jointly combat cyberthreats, terrorism and defence industry challenges.
Jones said the government is taking a comprehensive approach to strengthening the country’s internal resilience and defence readiness, with particular focus on protecting critical infrastructure from sabotage, repelling large-scale cyberattacks and neutralising disinformation campaigns.
