Ministry of Defence cyber attacks have doubled, Defence Secretary says

The MOD blocked and investigated more than 1,000 potentially serious attacks last year, Dr Fox said. The incidents could have had "serious consequences" if they had not been blocked, Dr Fox said.

"Our systems are targeted by criminals, foreign intelligence services and other malicious actors seeking to exploit our people, corrupt our systems and steal information," Dr Fox told the London of Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a speech on Tuesday.

"These risks are not restricted by the geographic constraints of conventional conflict – we are not protected by distance or by natural barriers – in cyberspace our adversaries are on our doorstep. This is the war of the invisible enemy," Dr Fox said.

"In this modern cyber age, where we have increased our own ability to work efficiently, exploit paperless environments and share information - we have made the task for our adversaries easier - and they have not been shy in taking advantage of our open and free society," Dr Fox said.

The Defence Secretary said that the UK Defence networks receive more than one million security alerts every day, but said the vast majority prove to be harmless.

The intellectual property (IP) in defence and security industries is at risk from hackers if they are able to break into MOD systems, Dr Fox said. This would have an impact on how the UK could protect itself, he said.

"Not only could it severely affect the future success of British industry, our economic advantage, and the country’s financial recovery - but also directly impacts upon our national security today," Dr Fox said in his speech.

Technological advantages that the UK enjoys in the aerospace and defence industries as a result of investments in research and development could be lost as a result of hacks, Dr Fox said.

"That technological edge is at risk of being eroded as your hard won nuggets of intellectual property are targeted on a daily basis," Dr Fox said.

"Without proper protection, what took years of diligent work and millions of pounds of funding to develop could fall victim to an expert adversary with the right know-how working on a simple networked laptop," Dr Fox said.

The Government is working with technology companies to make sure the UK's systems are fully protected from attack, Dr Fox said.

Cyber crime costs the UK economy £27bn each year and that figure is rising, Dr Fox said. He pointed to recent hacking attacks on Sony and Google and said that it proved that a passive approach to cyber security is not good enough.

Dr Fox called on leaders in the defence sector to recognise the seriousness of the hacking threat and said Government will coordinate with other countries to bring down barriers to cyber security.

"The bottom line is that a strong economy is a national security requirement." Dr Fox said in his speech.