Cyber weapons being developed to destroy Islamic State plots

Cyber weapons are being developed to destroy Islamic State plots and disrupt recruitment, George Osborne revealed today.

The Chancellor also said that IS would soon be able to use hacking to kill if unchecked. “They have not been able to use it to kill people yet by attacking our infrastructure through cyber attack,” he said in a speech to staff at government listening post GCHQ. “They do not yet have that capability. But we know they want it, and are doing their best to build it.”

In an extraordinary warning to terrorists and foreign powers, Mr Osborne said the new generation of cyber weapons would mean instant retaliation.

“We will defend ourselves. But we will also take the fight to you, too.”

Describing the weapons as a deterrent, he said IS were using the internet for “hideous propaganda” to radicalise recruits and plan attacks.

And he painted a terrifying picture of the chaos that a successful cyber attack on Britain’s essential infrastructure could cause. “The stakes could hardly be higher,” he said. “If our electricity supply or our air traffic control or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but in lives lost.

“If the lights go out, the banks stop working, the hospitals stop functioning or government itself can no longer operate, the impact on society could be catastrophic.”