Is the UK in danger from Russia?

[hereforalongtimenotagoodtime]

Keep receiving conflicting information. I am sick to my stomach and quite simply hate the unknown. So a simple question - is it likely that the UK will be in danger from Russia? And if so what does that look like? Cyber attacks, bombs being dropped?

@MistressoftheDarkSide

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/28/uk-firms-warned-over-possible-russian-cyber-attacks-amid-ukraine-crisis

At the time this was written it was considered unlikely that the UK would be at risk.

However, if Putin's threat of consequences in the face of intervention can't possibly mean nukes, then cyber attack is the next thing in line. And he did say he had everything lined up already. If spies can pop in and out of the UK and poison people (Salisbury) who's to say there aren't bad actors in any facility who could access sensitive systems and data? At the end of the day, anything is possible and without a doubt, there are things going on we don't know......

I agree with this :(

You're a hysteric, not someone "Genuine knowledgeable about national (and global) security"

You really have no clue what my area of expertise is.

Lol

Indeed.

Again. I'm stepping away from this (hyberbolic) thread. Don't want me here, stop posting to me. If you could refrain from personal insults, that would be nice but nevermind. The sign of a lost argument.

I'm off out.

@CoffeeWithCheese

Not much these days shocks me - but the sheer absolute arseholery of someone trying to doom-shit Covid (it's not even doom plopping anymore) over the fucking invasion of a sovereign state and people being worried and appalled by it - that shocks me.

I think I speak for many of us when I say, do one. You have an entire fucking board to do it on.

This.

I can't believe anything you posted has been deleted @CoffeeWithCheese but the tasteless, goading posts of our famous covid doomspreader are allowed to stay up, it's disgusting.

Anyone who thinks it's appropriate to come on here with more mad covid ramblings needs serious help. Or just get to fuck tbh.

The West will do lots of sabre rattling and posturing. But will ultimately let Putin take Ukraine, because the West needs Russia and it doesn't need Ukraine.

@MistressoftheDarkSide

Well, there's another heavy hitting sanction for you..... Sky have just reported that no Russian acts will be allowed into the Eurovision. Admittedly they did say it might seem trivial.....

Oh Lord, what a time to be alive eh?

I was looking forward to somebody being less popular than the U.K. for a change!!

@CoffeeWithCheese

There are some on these boards @Tealightsandd who are so obsessive about covid that they even come over to boards about war and try to compare their over the top anxieties about covid with war.

There are a huge number of threads on covid to keep the covid 'salivaters' busy already. Some must be positively scared shitless that people are no longer afraid and so need to ramp it up on any threads they can find. A thread about people worried about the next move of a Russian dictator that is currently waging war on a free nation is a bit much though.

The sign of a lost argument

Innocent people are losing everything, dying, and this is what you come out with @Tealightsandd. Turning this into a petty playground argument that can be 'won'. And accusing others of hyperbole, with absolutely no sense of irony whatsoever.

You've had two years to cause consternation and upset on the Covid board. Now you're all over Ukraine threads insisting that long covid is more of a concern than war in Europe. For the sake of decency, please know when to stop.

Citizens of Kyiv are being encouraged to stockpile Molotov cocktails for the incoming invasion.

You could not make this shit up......

There's no evidence that it ever could happen though. Do you really think Russia has putsoftware on all those computers, totally undetected, ready to carry out all kinds of different functions to cause this chaos that you're imagining?

'No evidence'.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/19/uk-government-registration-scheme-foreign-spies-boris-johnson
Only 10% of Russian spy operations in Europe uncovered, says former MI6 chief

Sir John Sawers made comment after praising Czech authorities for publishing identities of suspects in 2014 munitions dump explosion

Western intelligence agencies have long believed that both Russian GRU military intelligence units and the FSB domestic intelligence once headed by president Vladimir Putin are behind a string of assassinations, poisonings, bombings and coup plots all around Europe in the last decade.

With respect, do you happen to think that if something WAS discovered, the intelligence services here would advertise it?

The fact that Russian investors are so involved in the UK and are that involved around Europe to be involved in coup plots, do you think that we are somehow 'safe'.

Thats without considering individuals who are compromised and vulnerable to blackmail...

@RedToothBrush

Well said.

I don't think the "consequences" Putin is hinting at are nukes, although it's certainly a chess piece being manoeuvred around the board. The i newspaper says the Russians took Chernobyl today.

I think the hinted-at consequence would be coordinated cyber attacks, on critical infrastructure such as hospitals, power plants, banks, and military systems. Something so crippling that it would be almost impossible to effectively organize against.

It is a risk that IT security researchers have been well aware of for decades. And if you Google IT security breaches at the types of infrastructure I've listed, you will find plenty of small-scale examples of it in recent memory. One-off hacks of a power plant here, an oil company there. I believe a hospital in upstate New York may have even been hacked not that long ago, to the point of endangering patients.

Undersea cable attacks (IT and electrical) have also crossed my mind, because those stretch for thousands of miles. And while the Navies are aware of the possibility of those cables being cut in an attack (and thus, monitor for hostile parties) I understand these cables are very difficult to defend. If a an undersea interconnector cable is cut or destroyed, it can take months to repair. You have to find the damage in the first place, and then the digging it up and repairing at sea is tricky work.

It's possibly worth considering that there is a massive global shortage of chips that go into tech equipment. Lead times on IT equipment are long. If cyber attacks result in a need for additional hardware to recover systems or networks then once you've exhausted whatever is in the country, then you could be waiting a long time. It may well not be as simple as recovering a system if you need new or additional hardware.

This thread is hilarious!

Poster "something other people don't like"

Posters "fuck off"

Poster "responds"

Posters "wot you doing back here, we told you to fuck off"

[Face/Palm]

@the80sweregreat

They have cancelled a football match and their entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. 😕

It's not just "a football match". It's an enormously profitable football match for their economy. Tourism, money to use the stadium, massive audience for sponsoring companies. The Champions League tournament has been partly sponsored by Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, for 10 years.

@Xiomara22

Should we be worried that Russia has control of Chernobyl . Is there not a reason behind that? What if the bombing destroys the shelter protecting people?

One would hope that they had the sense to keep clear of the sarcophagus. There is a danger though that shell fire will disturb contaminated ground.

Wondering whether the F1 will go ahead. F1 reportedly said they’d see how things went (translation: let’s see about the moneyz) to be honest I don’t hold out much hope of it being cancelled, F1 love hosting in corrupt countries 😬

@iCouldSleepForAYear

I don't think the "consequences" Putin is hinting at are nukes, although it's certainly a chess piece being manoeuvred around the board. The i newspaper says the Russians took Chernobyl today.

I think the hinted-at consequence would be coordinated cyber attacks, on critical infrastructure such as hospitals, power plants, banks, and military systems. Something so crippling that it would be almost impossible to effectively organize against.

It is a risk that IT security researchers have been well aware of for decades. And if you Google IT security breaches at the types of infrastructure I've listed, you will find plenty of small-scale examples of it in recent memory. One-off hacks of a power plant here, an oil company there. I believe a hospital in upstate New York may have even been hacked not that long ago, to the point of endangering patients.

Undersea cable attacks (IT and electrical) have also crossed my mind, because those stretch for thousands of miles. And while the Navies are aware of the possibility of those cables being cut in an attack (and thus, monitor for hostile parties) I understand these cables are very difficult to defend. If a an undersea interconnector cable is cut or destroyed, it can take months to repair. You have to find the damage in the first place, and then the digging it up and repairing at sea is tricky work.

Have you ever watched the series on Channel 5 Warship? They're constantly out there seeing off the Russians in every series, it's seems like the Russians are always pushing boundaries even in normal times.

@TheVolturi Haven't seen that one, but have seen plenty of news about Russian war gaming over the years.

The news about one-off infrastructure hacks here and there end up on my radar through work (never directly related to what I actually do, just contained within the trade news sources I read to stay informed and get on with my job).

Pushing boundaries always came across as a way to identify weaknesses.

@Valhalla17

If Boris keeps making threats then it's highly likely we will be nuked.

I've missed something, what threats did he make?

*I don't think the "consequences" Putin is hinting at are nukes, although it's certainly a chess piece being manoeuvred around the board. The i newspaper says the Russians took Chernobyl today.

I think the hinted-at consequence would be coordinated cyber attacks, on critical infrastructure such as hospitals, power plants, banks, and military systems. Something so crippling that it would be almost impossible to effectively organize against.*

I don't think he's talking about cyber attacks. He means deaths.

Sure, the knock on effects of crippling infrastructure will cause deaths...but it's not as dramatic as direct deaths.

@MistressoftheDarkSide

Well, there's another heavy hitting sanction for you..... Sky have just reported that no Russian acts will be allowed into the Eurovision. Admittedly they did say it might seem trivial.....

Oh Lord, what a time to be alive eh?

I can't help but think that allowing them on Eurovision might be a kind of psychological warfare against Russia.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

It's possibly worth considering that there is a massive global shortage of chips that go into tech equipment. Lead times on IT equipment are long. If cyber attacks result in a need for additional hardware to recover systems or networks then once you've exhausted whatever is in the country, then you could be waiting a long time. It may well not be as simple as recovering a system if you need new or additional hardware.

Especially if all of a sudden the country that produces the majority of those chips is part of China....

[quote iCouldSleepForAYear]@TheVolturi Haven't seen that one, but have seen plenty of news about Russian war gaming over the years.

The news about one-off infrastructure hacks here and there end up on my radar through work (never directly related to what I actually do, just contained within the trade news sources I read to stay informed and get on with my job).

Pushing boundaries always came across as a way to identify weaknesses. [/quote]
And also, I think, to practice.

If you are going to have a cyber-army making attacks, you have to train them, let them practice, try new things.