Story perspectives

100 Governments Use Spyware; UK Battles China-Linked Hacks

4/23/2026

Summary

NCSC Discloses

NCSC will disclose on Wednesday that over half of world governments can use commercial spyware, with states rising to 100 from 80 in 2023.
British intelligence notes victimology now includes bankers and wealthy businesspeople, not only criminals or terror suspects.
NCSC head Richard Horne warned most major cyberattacks on the United Kingdom come from hostile foreign governments, including China-linked intrusions targeting data and high-profile individuals.

Summary

Jarvis Announces Cyber

Security Minister Dan Jarvis announced £90 million of cyber-defence funding for three years and launched a Cyber Resilience Pledge.
Jarvis urged AI firms to develop faster vulnerability-fixing tools and warned Anthropic’s Mythos could be misused.
The National Protective Security Authority warned UK nuclear, water and telecom operators about AI-enabled threats.
Russian-linked cyber attacks have hit European utilities in Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Norway.

History

Historical Context

The Edward Snowden revelations in 2013 exposed the extensive surveillance practices of the NSA, revealing that it collected data from over 120 million Verizon subscribers. This disclosure ignited global debates on privacy and led over 100 governments, including the UK, to adopt commercial spyware, reflecting a trend in state-sponsored cyber surveillance amid rising threats from nations like China and Russia.

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NCSC Discloses

NCSC will disclose on Wednesday that over half of world governments can use commercial spyware, with states rising to 100 from 80 in 2023.
British intelligence notes victimology now includes bankers and wealthy businesspeople, not only criminals or terror suspects.
NCSC head Richard Horne warned most major cyberattacks on the United Kingdom come from hostile foreign governments, including China-linked intrusions targeting data and high-profile individuals.

1 / 3