Stockpile food in case of Russian cyber attack, public to be told
People will be urged to stock up on food and water in case of a cyber-attack from Russia, as part of wide-ranging plans to prepare Britain “in case the worst happens”.
A new “resilience” campaign encourages people to be prepared for emergencies, while ministers will test military and civilian responses in the biggest defense exercise on UK soil in decades next year.
Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, said: “This campaign will help the public take small but significant steps to prepare for emergencies and disruptions, whether it be severe weather or a cyber attack that could affect access to electricity, water or phone signal.
“Being prepared not only helps people keep themselves and their families safe, it also means emergency services can focus on helping the most vulnerable in communities.”
Last month former chief of the defense staff Lord Peach said: Independent He warned that it was “time to get serious” about Putin’s threats to Britain, saying households should load up on cash as well as food and water.
Britain and its allies on Monday accused Russia of attempting an attack on Poland’s power grid last December that could have left 500,000 people without power in the middle of winter.
The public will also be asked to be prepared for other types of emergencies, including severe weather. An estimated 2,700 people are thought to have died in England and Wales due to heat waves in recent weeks.
The internal defense exercise, called Operation Albiston Shadow, will last several days.
Ministers said this would “guarantee that we will always be ready should the worst happen”.
Mr Jones said on Tuesday he had added seven new entries to the UK National Risk Register, the official assessment of the most significant threats facing the country.
These include cyberattacks targeting data, water infrastructure, and police systems, as well as “digital resilience failures” such as the 2024 Crowdstrike outage that took infrastructure, transportation, and healthcare systems offline.
There is also the added risk of foreign interference in the UK’s democratic process as Labor ministers seek to introduce new laws on political donations.
Mr Jones said: “Throughout our history the UK has overcome many challenges, from plagues and epidemics to war and our fair share of rainy weather.
“It is right that we constantly evaluate the risks we may encounter and plan for what may happen.
“This year we have seen temperatures in the UK break records in May, only to be surpassed again in June, and AI offers huge opportunities for our economy and security, as well as providing new ways for criminals to carry out cyber attacks against us.”
