By Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist
via IainFraser.Blogspot.com
A new Cyber Regiment has been launched to protect frontline operations from digital attack as Defence continues its modernisation to combat the threats of tomorrow, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace today announces.
The Ministry of Defence has launched 13th Signal Regiment, a dedicated Cyber Regiment, which will protect vital defence networks at home and on operations overseas.
The unit was formally stood up on Monday, June 1, at a ceremony at Blandford, home of the Royal Signals.
As the character of warfare evolves, and the weapons used to fight those wars shift from the industrial to the information age, digital and cyber capabilities are increasingly relied upon to ensure the nation’s security and the safety of our personnel overseas.
Our adversaries and hostile actors are operating in cyberspace right now, creating a new cyber frontline – alongside the traditional domains of Land, Sea and Air – without physical borders but also needing to be defended.
Secure communications are the foundation for any successful operation and 13th Signal Regiment will provide ‘digital armour’ around personnel operating overseas, giving commanders and their soldiers the ability to operate with confidence in their communications systems, often while working in challenging conditions.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:
This is a step-change in the modernisation of the UK Armed Forces for information warfare. Cyber-attacks are every bit as deadly as those faced on the physical battlefield, so we must prepare to defend ourselves from all those who would do us harm and 13th Signal Regiment is a vital addition to that defence.
The 13th Signal Regiment is a regiment of the British Army within 1st (UK) Signal Brigade, under
the command of 6th (UK) Division, responsible for conducting information manoeuvre and unconventional warfare, in support of the whole Armed Forces.
The specialist unit will provide the basis of the new Army Cyber Information Security Operations
Centre, focusing on the protection of Defence’s cyber domain, and it will work with the Royal Navy
and Royal Air Force to provide secure networks for all military communications.
And ensuring that UK defensive cyber capabilities remain ahead of adversaries and aggressors, 13th Signal Regiment will also provide specialist technical support for a hub to test and implement next
generation information capabilities.
Based at multiple key locations around a Headquarters in Blandford, Dorset, 13th Signal Regiment will be built around a core of 250 specialist servicemen and women who possess relevant high-end technical skills.
A number of existing cyber functions are being brought together from across the Army to establish the regiment, with personnel from 15 different cap badges represented in the first intake, plus specialist Royal Navy and RAF personnel.
The regiment will consist of several Cyber Protection Teams as well as technical staff who will secure
the cyber domain for troops deployed on military operations.
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