UK defence chiefs sending 'hunt forces' overseas to stop Britain's military being crippled by cyberattacks

British troops have been sent abroad to stop hackers unleashing crippling cyber-attacks against the military.A specialised 'hunt force' has been deployed to disrupt the digital assaults in their infancy before they cause widespread mayhem.Revealing the mission for the first time, Major General Mike Fayers, the commander of the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force, said soldiers were already on the ground.The Army chief said the 'highly sensitive' operations required the sign-off from Defence Secretary Wes Streeting.The revelation follows a spate of hacks which have caused chaos across Europe in recent days. Hackers targeted France's national blood bank last week, raising the temperatures of cold-storage rooms in an attempt to destroy vital supplies.Similar incidents took place against shops and food retailers, with cyber gangs hacking into freezers and turning up the temperatures to more than 55C (131F), causing tons of food to spoil.A small number of British retailers were affected by the freezer hack, including a fruit and vegetable wholesaler in London, whose workers spotted the breach and unplugged their chiller units from the internet to stop it.One of Britain's leading spy chiefs later warned the online bombardment was just the start, fearing larger, more devastating attacks could soon be on the way.'Whereas historically we have defended on our territory, we are now defending ourselves forward of our own networks,' Maj General Fayers said of the new military 'hunt force'. British troops have been sent abroad to stop hackers from launching crippling cyber-attacks against the military (file image) A 'hunt force' of cyber experts from the military are actively engaged overseas, targeting hackers (file image)'We are trying to hunt for our adversaries in places where they prepare before they target UK military systems.'I mean sending people physically to places to virtually hunt for the adversary to protect our systems.'The Army chief told The Times that specialist soldiers, sailors and airmen were increasingly being sent across Europe to man the digital frontline.The missions only take place in countries where host nations agree to the presence of British personnel.The cyber troops deploy either by land, sea or air, and are tasked with targeting hacking cells run by state actors or criminal gangs.Maj General Fayers did not explicitly reveal what missions the hunter force had been on. But it's understood they could, for example, be deployed against Russian hackers infecting servers in a European country to cause widespread chaos.'Our adversaries are very cunning. This is not just an (Ministry of Defence) issue, this is a whole-of-UK challenge,' he told The Times.'We've seen AI now exploiting vulnerabilities at a speed we have not seen before. Whereas historically we would have had a few days to fix vulnerabilities, we are now in double-digit minutes to respond to those vulnerabilities.' Major General Mike Fayers, the commander of the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force, said soldiers were already on the ground.In May last year, the Ministry of Defence said it had faced 90,000 cyber-attacks from 'state-linked sources' over the previous two years, double the number that took place in the two years before that.Last month, Mr Streeting warned millions of Britons to stockpile essential supplies, like canned food and bottled water in case of a cyber-attack.Dr Richard Horne, the head of Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of the GCHQ spy agency, warned the freezer hacks were 'just the foothills' of what could soon hit the UK.'There are so many vulnerabilities out there that in some ways you could say are waiting to be exploited,' he added. 'The most serious risk we face in the short term is just a huge rise in the volume of incidents.'Asked if the latest wave of attacks reinforced warnings from the Defence Secretary that people in the UK should stockpile, Dr Horne added: 'Absolutely. And we saw criminal attacks last year impact retailers in the UK.'We alert people. We intervene where we can. But, at the end of the day, it's your business. It's your charity. It's your life. You need to make the choice and choose wisely.'The comments come amid fears from defence chiefs across Europe that Russia may be conducting a sabotage campaign across the continent.Speaking last month, Mr Streeting warned Britain needed to be ready for war 'in 1,000 days', with military commanders targeting a date of 2030.