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The UK and the US are to embark upon a joint military operation to help combat cyberthreats faced by the two nations.

The Ministry of Defence announced this week that the UK Strategic Command – which oversees resources and operations that cut across the three Armed Forces and their domains – will take part in the operation. The organisation will provide technology specialists from the MoD’s Defence Digital unit will join counterparts from the US’s dedicated Cyber Command, as well as “other partners”, the government said.

The operation will constitute a “collaborative exercise which will identify threats that could impact the internal systems of participants”, it added.

Insights gained during the operation will be shared with all participants to support the overall aim of increasing “interoperability and strengthen cyber resilience” and “unifying our response to malicious cyber activity”.

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The MoD indicated that the collaboration is being launched against the backdrop of “increased digitisation [which] brings unprecedented complexity, instability and risk, making global partnerships key to our security and economic prosperity”.

Rear admiral Nick Washer, operations director at Defence Digital, said: “Cyber does not recognise geographic borders. Our relationships with partners offer huge shared benefits; operations like this with U.S. Cyber Command put our expertise into practice and enhance our collective defence.”

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Matthew Paradise, deputy director, Operations J-3, U.S. Cyber Command, added: “Defensive Cyberspace Operations helps CyberCom meet its mission responsibilities by enabling and improving mission assurance of the joint force, as well as our allies and partners, by maintaining reliable and defensible networks.”