GCHQ: New head of cyber security agency announced

Lindy Cameron begins the role amid tensions around the Russia report

A civil servant who has served in conflict zones including Afghanistan and Iraq, and has worked in the international development field, will be taking over as the head of one of Britain’s cyber intelligence agencies.

Lindy Cameron will replace Ciaran Martin as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ, at a time of ongoing controversy over the performance of the intelligence agencies in countering cyber campaigns by hostile states.

A recent report by the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) strongly criticised the failure of the government and the security and intelligence services for a failure to combat Russian propaganda offensives during the last general election and the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums.

GCHQ and the NCSC told the Committee that Russia had targeted critical national infrastructure and government departments and posed an “immediate and urgent threat” in cyberspace. Yet, the MPs found, as late as 2016, the time of the Brexit vote, GCHQ only devoted just 10 per cent of its resources to Russia. There has been a significant rise in those resources since then.

Ms Cameron’s new post will also include dealing with the fallout from the decision to bar Huawei from the UK’s 5G network by 2027. The move, a volte-face by Boris Johnson’s government, came after a review was carried out by the NCSC following the impositions of new sanctions by the US on the Chinese telecommunications multinational.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/national-cyber-security-centre-gchq-head-lindy-cameron-a9642051.html