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On Thursday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham travelled to Germany, where he announced the launch of a joint partnership with the German government to enhance cooperation on shared security threats. The partnership will include information sharing and combined action to monitor, deter and disrupt threats across Europe. This partnership comes after Germany experienced a drone attack on Leipzig airport earlier this summer, which the government linked to Russian operatives. Over rec

Britain cannot ask its people to prepare for a crisis while failing to explain the danger. Honest leadership, credible defence and an informed public are now essential to our national security.

What does cognitive warfare mean for Britain? Explore why national resilience needs coordinated action across government, business, technology and communities.

Britain must strengthen its missile and drone defences to protect people, critical infrastructure and essential services. That requires coordinated investment in detection, response and preparedness, supported by clear responsibility and sustained political leadership. It must be a priority for the present Government, with commitment across party lines.

Senior industry leaders and academics together for The Resilience Imperative’s recent workshop, “A Safer Future: Building Public Resilience, Cognitive Security and National Preparedness.”

As Russia’s hybrid campaign intensifies across Europe, is Britain ready? Lady Olga Maitland examines the threats to critical infrastructure—and makes the case for stronger national resilience.

By Lady Olga Maitland A warning worth heeding Lord Robertson has repeatedly warned that the UK's national security is "in peril": that we are under attack and not safe. He is right, and we are not immune from what is unfolding in Europe. Moscow's rhetoric towards Britain has hardened in step. Russia's defence ministry has threatened three UK sites producing drones and military hardware for Ukraine (in London, Leicester and Suffolk), warning of "unpredictable consequences." Dm

By Alexandra Ryabov A small British power generator was forced offline for four days in July following a cyberattack reportedly linked to Iran. The incident, which only became public on 22 August, is believed to be the first successful Iran-linked cyberattack to cause this kind of disruption to UK energy infrastructure. The UK Government has confirmed that a cyber incident affected a small-scale energy generator but has not publicly attributed responsibility. Energy Minister

By Sebastian Wigg, 26 August 2026 The Russian embassy in London issued a direct warning to the UK last week, following reporting in The Times that British-made drones had been used for deep strikes in Russian territory. The embassy accused Britain of "deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis", stating that "the deeper its involvement in the conflict... the higher the price it will pay”, and adding that "London's actions will inevitably carry consequences fo

By Freddie Chambers and Sebastian Wigg Britain has requested the extradition from Cyprus of Rashad Sultanov, a 44-year-old dual British-Azerbaijani national from Islington, who is suspected of spying for Iran, Reuters reports. UK police allege that Sultanov conducted hostile surveillance at RAF Akrotiri between 11 May and 22 June 2025 and passed information to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He remains in Cypriot custody while extradition proceedings continue. The a

By Sebastian Wigg, Alice Charalombous, and Alexandra Ryabov Europe is moving to close a major missile-defence gap, but the UK remains exposed in the near term. On 13 July, Ukraine and nine European states, including the UK, established the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, which will explore the joint development of a more affordable interceptor built around Ukraine’s Freyja project. Funding remains at the stage of identifying potential opportunities rather than bi

By Sebastian Wigg, Alice Charalambous and Alexandra Ryabov The UK government has announced Operation Albiston Shadow, its largest home defence exercise in decades, to be held in 2027 to test the country's ability to counter hybrid threats, including cyberattacks, sabotage of critical infrastructure, and disinformation campaigns. The multi-day exercise, revealed as part of the Annual Statement on National Resilience, will run alongside a wider Nato exercise and involve ministe

On 22 June 2026, Tata Electronics confirmed a cybersecurity incident after the extortion group World Leaks published more than 630GB of reportedly stolen data, comprising over 204,000 files. The material appears to include Apple supplier specifications, Tesla drawings marked as trade secrets - including material tied to Tesla's Project Highland, the codename for the revamped Model 3 - as well as employee passport scans, emails and system logs. Tata, which assembles about a t

On 30 June 2026, outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a £298 billion Defence Investment Plan covering the next four years. The plan includes £15 billion above the previous Spending Review settlement and raises annual defence spending from £54 billion to almost £80 billion by 2029–30 - with its intention to demonstrate renewed military ambition and strengthen UK resilience against growing threats from Russia, Iran and China. Headline allocations include: £63 billion+

CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54272205 Ardenna Insights, 3 June 2026 Reporting period: 1 to 31 May 2026 Summary May 2026 was defined by sustained, un-interdicted transits of Russian shadow fleet tankers through the Channel at a rate of roughly two dozen UK-sanctioned vessels per week, the sustained presence of the Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Grigorovich around UK waters, further UK Russia-regime sanctions activity, focused on individuals and e

Photo by Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia - Russian Air Force, RF-81719, Sukhoi Su-35S, CC BY-SA 2.0, By Archie Millett In April 2026, two Russian fighter jets intercepted an unarmed RAF Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea while it was operating in international airspace. According to the MOD, a Russian Su-35 flew close enough to trigger the aircraft’s emergency systems and disable its autopilot. A Su-27 then made six passes in front of the RAF aircraft, co

By Lady Olga Maitland, 15 May 2026 The "grey war" - that nebulous, undeclared friction of the modern age - is often difficult to discern. Yet for the United Kingdom, hostile actions have become a mundane, if menacing, regularity. Nowhere is this more apparent than in British waters, which are currently neither safe nor secure. Throughout the past month, the Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian frigate, alongside the repair ship PM-82, has been loitering off the Suffolk coast. T

It was a pleasure to speak at the Pulse CISO 360 Conference in Edinburgh on 29 April 2026. My speech addressed the threats facing the UK and teh launch of the Resilience Imperative to counter them. Here is my speech: RESILIENCE IMPERATIVE AND HYBRID THREATS Britain is facing a perfect storm of cyber and hybrid attacks. Richard Horne, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, recently warned that the UK handled more than 200 nationally significant cyber incidents last year —

In April, we were invited to submit written evidence to the House of Lords Resilience Committee. Our evidence outlined the evolving landscape of hybrid threats and systemic vulnerabilities facing the UK. It provides a strategic framework for a 'whole of society' approach to resilience, emphasising the need for targeted investment, cross-sector collaboration, and enhanced public preparedness to mitigate the risks of co-ordinated disruption. Our talented Future Leaders group pr

The post-1991 assumption of enduring peace has eroded. States now face a growing range of interconnected threats operating across military, technological, and societal domains. In this context, the question of military preparedness has taken on renewed importance. Yet what does it mean for a state to be militarily “ready” in this new era? The state-on-state conflicts of the 20th century have been replaced by hybrid wars and asymmetric contests, in which there is no clear-cut