The Cabinet of Britain: we have not appointed a person responsible for the fight against Russia
In a press-service of the Cabinet of Ministers of great Britain has denied previously appeared the message that the government appeared responsible for “counter-Subversion”, whose duties will primarily include opposition to the Russian threat.
“This message is not just wrong, it is completely untrue,” — said the Russian service Bi-bi-si, the press service of the British government.
Monday March 13, the Times newspaper reported that Prime Minister Theresa may has appointed a member of the British Cabinet Ben Gummer responsible for the fight against “Subversion”.
The article said that one of the most important tasks Gummer will be the protection of Britain against attempts by Moscow to destabilize Western democracy by hacker hacking and disinformation through their media — in particular, the news Agency Sputnik and RT.
In a press-service of the British Cabinet to correspondent Bi-bi-si said that Ben Gummer 2016 is a member of the government. In the area of responsibility among other things included issues of cybersecurity.
“Ben Gummer deals with this issue in 2016 and continues to engage them in normal mode. Any new appointments or changes in recent years has not been and is not expected”, — noted in Whitehall.
Courses on the fight against cyber threats
Direct combat cyber threats in Britain is the national center of cybersecurity. Formally it is subordinated to the government, but has a wide autonomy in decision-making.
The center recently invited members of various political parties on technology seminars. Students are being asked to lecture on cyber threats and practical steps to prevent and combat their effects.
Experts note that the special importance of such recommendations can be purchased on the eve of elections.
The next parliamentary elections in the UK expected in 2020; every year the country held local elections.
The British government communications Centre (GCHQ) has stated that Russian hackers tried to attack the websites of the government and TV companies of the United Kingdom.
The British foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Sunday that in London there is no evidence that Moscow is in fact involved in attempts to undermine the democratic process in Britain.
“But there is a lot of evidence that the Russians are capable of it,” said Johnson in an interview with ITV.
As examples, the head of the foreign office led the attack on the French TV channel TV5Monde, hacking email servers of the national Committee of the US Democratic party and the coup attempt in Montenegro.
Russian authorities have repeatedly denied accusations of meddling in the electoral process in the West and involvement in cyberattacks on Western institutions.
Who is Ben Gummer?
Ben Gummer was born in 1978 into a family of famous British conservative politician John Gummer. John Gamma was a member of the Cabinet of Ministers from 1989 to 1997, is now a member of the house of lords of the British Parliament.
Ben Gummer graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in “history”. After graduating, Gummer became involved in business, leading a small company that sells refrigeration equipment. He then worked with his father in the company, providing advice on environmental issues.
In parallel, Ben Gummer tried to develop an academic career, wrote a book on the history.
But in the end he decided to enter politics and was elected to Parliament from the Conservative party in 2010 and 2015. From 2013 to 2015 he was parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of education. And from 2015 to 2016, he was the parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Ministry of health.
Olga Ivshina
Russian service Bi-bi-si