Gloucestershire Echo, 11 March 2010: The battle against “electronic warfare” is being hampered – because GCHQ can’t get the right staff, a hard hitting report said today. The threat to Britain from electronic warfare must be treated “very seriously”, the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) urged.

Government information, national infrastructure and private firms are at risk from state-sponsored attacks, many from China and Russia, the cross-party parliamentary committee said. In its annual report on the work of the UK’s security agencies, the ISC warned the threat posed was “a matter for concern” that needed to be given a high priority.

Work by GCHQ to tackle the problem had yielded “tangible benefits”, it said. But it was well below the capacity initially planned because of problems with the recruitment and retention of specialist staff. . . .

Intelligence and Security Committee Annual Report 2008–2009 .pdf (UK)