UK Cyber Security Chief Names China as Dominant Hacking Threat

The UK has named China as the dominant threat to national cybersecurity after a series of hacks and breaches involving British government departments and critical infrastructure.

“China remains the pacing threat in the cyber realm,” Richard Horne, the chief of Britain’s National Cyber Security Center, said in a rare speech on Wednesday. “The continued activity that we’re seeing come from the Chinese system remains a cause for profound and profuse concern,” he warned, describing Beijing as an “adversary.”

Horne’s remarks reflect the increasing alarm among British officials about hostile activity by China online even as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to improve economic ties with the nation. The UK is trying to navigate a thorny policy approach toward Beijing, one aimed at boosting financial sector links between the two as US President Donald Trump escalates his trade with China.

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The security threat further complicates Britain’s China policy. Last year, Bloomberg reported officials’ concern that Chinese state actors have made widespread — and likely successful — efforts to access UK critical infrastructure networks and security officials have publicly named China-affiliated groups including so-called Volt Typhoon as threats.

Britain has also alleged that China was behind hacks of the Electoral Commission and Members of Parliament. UK officials also said the country was involved in a recent hack into the personal data of armed forces personnel.

“Hostile nation states have weaponized their cyber capabilities. And while they might not be using them in pursuit or support of direct conflict, some are operating daily in the ‘Grey Zone,’ that murky space between peace and war where states and non-state actors engage in competitive activity,” Horne said.

The NCSC had tracked more than 200 cyber-security incidents since September and seen the number of significant breaches nationally double compared with the same period a year ago, he added. Horne also warned that hostile online behavior by Russia was linked to physical threats to security as Moscow ramps up efforts to disrupt Ukraine.

“It is almost certain that Russia will continue its wider cyber espionage activity against Ukraine and supporting countries to gain strategic advantage in its negotiation strategy,” he said. Iran and North Korea also posed ongoing cyber threats, he added, calling on business to increase their resilience against hacks.

In another indication of the Chinese threat, UK government officials last month raised private concerns that Chinese-manufactured drones were being used to take high resolution images of critical national infrastructure sites in the UK.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves also appeared to sharpen the UK’s official line against China recently by praising Trump’s critique of global trade imbalances.

Photograph: Chief of UK’s National Cyber Security Centre Richard Horne, who spoke during the CyberUK Conference at Manchester Central Convention Complex in Manchester, UK, on May 7, 2025. Photo credit: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images

Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.

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